Extended selection and alignment of video segments for adaptive streaming

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are system, apparatus, article of manufacture, method, and/or computer program product embodiments for extended selection and alignment of video segments for adaptive streaming. An embodiment operates by receiving variant segments, the variant segments including a first and a second variant segment having a first bitrate, and third and fourth variant segments having a second bitrate, for decoding and playback, generating a first, second, and third packetized elementary stream (PES) collections based on the first, second, and third variant segments. The embodiment further operate by storing the generated first, second, and third PES collections in a processing buffer, and determining, based on a maximum tolerance offset, a first and a second out-of-tolerance splicing locations and associated first and second out-of-tolerance offsets between the first PES collection and the second PES collection and between the first PES collection and the third PES collection.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to U.S. Non-Provisional patent applicationSer. No. 15/010,788 titled “SELECTION OF VIDEO SEGMENTS FOR ADAPTIVESTREAMING.” This application is also related to U.S. Non-Provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 15/010,857 titled “SELECTION AND ALIGNMENTOF VIDEO SEGMENTS FOR ADAPTIVE STREAMING.” The above referencedapplications are filed on the same day with the same inventor as thisapplication and are herein incorporated by reference in theirentireties. This application is also related to U.S. Non-ProvisionalPatent Application No. 16/155,617, filed Oct. 9, 2018 titled “SELECTIONOF VIDEO SEGMENTS FOR ADAPTIVE STREAMING,” and U.S. Non-ProvisionalPatent Application No. 16/036,043, filed Jul. 16, 2018 titled “SELECTIONAND ALIGNMENT OF VIDEO SEGMENTS FOR ADAPTIVE STREAMING.” The abovereferenced applications were also filed with the same inventor as thisapplication.

BACKGROUND

Field

This disclosure is generally directed to extended selection andalignment of video segments. More particularly, this disclosure relatesto extended selection and alignment of video segments for adaptivestreaming.

Background

Consumer electronics such as, for example, high definition audio and/orvideo playback devices, may generally enable a user or consumer to watchor listen to their favorite content, such as, for example, music,movies, TV series, audio books, and/or the like by receiving orstreaming the content for play back on their devices. To provideconsumers with an enjoyable streaming experience for given networkconditions, these devices typically receive streaming content from theassociated supporting backend systems in various bitrates.

SUMMARY

Provided herein are system, apparatus, article of manufacture, methodand/or computer program product embodiments, and/or combinations andsub-combinations thereof, for extended selection and alignment of videosegments for adaptive streaming.

An embodiment includes a computer implemented method for extendedselection and alignment of video segments for adaptive streaming. Themethod may operate by receiving one or more variant segments, the one ormore variant segments including a first and second variant segmentshaving a first bitrate, and a third and fourth variant segments having asecond bitrate, for decoding and playback and generating a first,second, and third packetized elementary stream (PES) collections basedon the first, second, and third variant segments. The method may furtheroperate by storing the generated first, second, and third PEScollections in a processing buffer and determining, based on a maximumtolerance offset, a first and a second out-of-tolerance splicinglocations and associated first and second out-of-tolerance offsetsbetween the first PES collection and the second PES collection andbetween the first PES collection and the third PES collection.

Another embodiment includes a system for extended selection andalignment of video segments for adaptive streaming. The system mayinclude at least one processor and a memory coupled to the at least oneprocessor and configured to receive one or more variant segments, theone or more variant segments including a first and second variantsegments having a first bitrate, and a third and fourth variant segmentshaving a second bitrate, for decoding and playback and generate a first,second, and third packetized elementary stream (PES) collections basedon the first, second, and third variant segments. The at least oneprocessor may be further configured to store the generated first,second, and third PES collections in a processing buffer and determine,based on a maximum tolerance offset, a first and a secondout-of-tolerance splicing locations and associated first and secondout-of-tolerance offsets between the first PES collection and the secondPES collection and between the first PES collection and the third PEScollection.

A further embodiment includes a tangible computer-readable device havinginstructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least onecomputing device, causes the at least one computing device to performoperations. The operations may include receiving one or more variantsegments, the one or more variant segments including a first and secondvariant segments having a first bitrate, and a third and fourth variantsegments having a second bitrate, for decoding and playback andgenerating a first, second, and third packetized elementary stream (PES)collections based on the first, second, and third variant segments. Theoperations may further include storing the generated first, second, andthird PES collections in a processing buffer and determining, based on amaximum tolerance offset, a first and a second out-of-tolerance splicinglocations and associated first and second out-of-tolerance offsetsbetween the first PES collection and the second PES collection andbetween the first PES collection and the third PES collection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The accompanying drawings are incorporated herein and form a part of thespecification.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an adaptive streaming systemconfigured according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a media device inan example embodiment.

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate a plurality of example variant streams having aplurality of variant segments according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate a set of interactions for determining alignmentbetween two different bitrate variant streams according to an exampleembodiment.

FIGS. 5A-5D illustrates a set of interactions for determining a firstin-tolerance splicing location between two different bitrate variantstreams according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a set of interactions for determining a secondin-tolerance splicing location between two different bitrate variantstreams according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates a set of interactions for determining a thirdin-tolerance splicing location between two different bitrate variantstreams according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 8A-8G illustrate a set of interactions for realigning a processingbuffer according to according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate processing operations that may be performed bythe media device to PES collections of variant streams for a bitratetransition according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates processing operations that may be performed by themedia device to determine an in-tolerance splicing location or anout-of-tolerance splicing location according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 11 illustrates processing operations that may be performed by themedia device to splice an old bitrate PES collection and a new bitratePES collection according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example computer system useful for implementingvarious embodiments.

Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings. Additionally, generally, the left-mostdigit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which thereference number first appears. Furthermore, one or more designators tothe right of a reference number such as, for example, “m” and “n” andother similar designators are intended to be variables representing anypositive integer. Thus, for example, if an implementation sets a valuefor n=4, then a complete set of elements 114-n may include elements114-1, 114-2, 114-3, and 114-4. Furthermore, unless explicitly statedotherwise, a complete set of elements may vary for a given feature,embodiment, and/or implementation even though the same designator may beused between various features, embodiments, and/or implementations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an adaptive streaming system 100,according to an embodiment. In particular, the adaptive streaming system100 may include one or more interface systems 110-n, platform serverdevices 120, and one or more content source systems 130-n. In anembodiment, the interface systems 110-n may include, without limitation,display devices 112-n (e.g. a monitor, television, a projector, etc.),media devices 114-n (e.g. streaming devices, multimedia devices,audio/video playback devices, etc.), and/or control devices 116-n.

In an embodiment, the media devices 114-n may be integrated with,operatively coupled to, and/or connected to their respective displaydevices 112-n, control devices 116-n, and/or network 150. The mediadevices 150 may be configured to communicate with their respectivedisplay devices 112-n and network 150. In various embodiments, thenetwork 150 may include, without limitation, a computer and/ortelecommunications network which may enable coupled and/orinterconnected systems and/or devices to communicate information betweenand among each other. In various embodiments, the network 150 mayinclude, without limitation, intranet, extranet, Internet, and/or anyother local, regional, global telecommunications network.

In an embodiment, the platform server device(s) 120 may include, withoutlimitation, one or more platform applications 124-n and a platformdatastore 122. The platform datastore 122 may be generally arranged tostore platform information and for management of content, media devices,content source systems, users or consumers. The platform application(s)124-n may be generally arranged to provide various services to the oneor more media devices 114-n. The various services may include, withoutlimitation, authentication services, search services, user interfaceservices, content services, command services, datastore services, and/orthe like.

In an embodiment, the platform server device(s) 120 may be configured toreceive command information from media devices 114-n and may process thecommand information via the one or more platform applications 124-n. Inan embodiment, the media devices 114-n may be configured to aurallyand/or graphically present user interfaces and/or content on respectiveor corresponding display devices 112-n including any acoustictransducers (e.g., speakers, etc.) operatively coupled to the displaydevices 112-n.

For example, the media device 114-1 may be configured to acoustically,graphically, and/or visually present content on the display device 112-1sourced from media device 114-1, the platform server device(s) 120,and/or the one or more content source systems 130-n.

In addition to or alternative to the above example, the media device114-1 may be configured to provide the one or more user interface (UI)views and/or UI elements and associated acoustic information to displaydevice 112-1 for acoustical, graphical, and/or visual presentation,where the UI views, UI elements, and/or associated acoustic informationmay be generated by the platform server device(s) 120, the one or morecontent source systems 130-n, and/or the media device 114-1.

In an embodiment, the control devices 116-n may be configured tocommunicate user input information with the respective media devices114-n and may optionally include a touch screen display (not shown)and/or audio input and/or output (I/O) circuitry. For example, thecontrol device 116-1 may be configured to use one or more wired and/orwireless communication protocols and/or standards, which may include,without limitation, infrared (IR) protocols and/or standards, radiofrequency (RF) protocols and/or standards, and/or Bluetooth protocoland/or standard to communicate with the media device 114-1. In anembodiment, the control device 116-1 may be further configured to enablea consumer or user of a media device (e.g., media device 114-1) tonavigate and/or make user selections from the UI views presented on adisplay device (e.g., display device 112-1).

Additionally or alternatively, the control device 116-1 itself may beconfigured to present at least a portion of the UI views on a touchscreen display (not shown) connected and/or integrated with the controldevice 116-1 to enable a consumer or user of media device 114-1 tonavigate, select, or otherwise interact with various content aspreviously discussed. Examples of control devices 116-n may include,without limitation, remote controls and/or mobile devices.

In an embodiment, the content stored within the content datastores 134-nmay include music, video, multimedia, still pictures, text, graphics,gaming applications, and/or the like. In another embodiment, theparticular content which is stored within the content datastores 134-nmay be requested, streamed, and/or provided to the media devices 114-nthrough the network 150 utilizing one or more media streamingcommunications protocols.

In accordance with some implementations of the one or more mediastreaming communications protocols, content requested, streamed, and/orprovided from the content datastore 134-n may be represented or encodedas one or more sets of variant streams, where each particular contentmay be represented by a set of variant streams. Each variant stream inthe set of variant streams may be encoded at a specific bitrateutilizing one or more audio and/or video coding standards. Additionally,each variant stream may also be separated or divided into a sequence orseries of one or more variant segments, where each variant segment maybe of a specific variant segment length (e.g., 3 seconds of audio/video,5 seconds of audio/video, 7 seconds of audio/video, 10 seconds ofaudio/video, etc.).

The one or more media streaming communications protocols may include,without limitation, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Live Streaming(HLS), Adaptive HTTP Streaming (AHS), Moving Picture ExpertsGroup-Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH) and/or the like.The one or more audio coding standards may include, without limitation,MPEG-2 Audio Layer III (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), HighEfficiency AAC (HE-AAC), Arc Consistency Algorithm #3 (AC-3), and/or thelike. The one or more video coding standards may include, withoutlimitation, MPEG-2 defined by the International Telecommunication Union(ITU) as H.222/H.262, MPEG-4 Part 10 Advanced Video Coding (MPEG-4 AVC)defined by ITU Telecommunications Standardization Sector (ITU-T) asH.264, MPEG-H Part 2 High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) defined byITU-T as H.265, and/or the like.

In order to stream or provide one or more optimal variant stream to themedia devices 114-n for the particular content, the content sourcesystems 130-n may further provide content description informationassociated with the particular content and consistent with one or moremedia streaming communications protocols. For example, the contentdescription information may be represented as a HTTP Live StreamingPlaylist consistent with the HLS communications protocol. The contentdescription information may also be represented as Media PresentationDescription (MPD) consistent with the MPEG-DASH protocol. The examplesare not limited in this context.

Each content description information may be associated with a particularcontent and may include, without limitation, a variant streamscollection including a list of available variant streams. Each contentdescription information may further include, without limitation, a setof variant segments collections where each variant segments collectionof the set of set of variant segments collections may be associated witha variant stream and includes a collection of variant segments for theassociated variant stream.

Each content description information may further include, withoutlimitation, bitrate information and playback resolution informationassociated with each of the available variant streams and/or variantsegment, and playback duration information associated with each variantsegment. The bitrate information may be representative of the maximumbitrate (in Kilobits per second (Kbps) or Megabits per second (Mbps)including any overhead) required by the variant segment and/or variantstream for proper playback. The playback resolution information may berepresentative of the maximum output video resolution for properplayback.

Each content description information may further include, withoutlimitation, segment location information associated with each variantsegment and may identify a network address and/or path of a variantsegment stored within the content datastores 134-n. It may beappreciated that once the media devices 114-n receives the associatedcontent description information, the media devices 114-n may request aparticular variant segment of a particular variant stream for aparticular content for playback based on the available bandwidthassociated with the respective media devices 114-n.

In one embodiment, content description information and the correspondingcontent may be stored by the content source systems 130-n. In anotherembodiment, content description information may be maintained within theplatform server device(s) 120 and stored in the platform datastore 122while the corresponding content (e.g., variant segments associated withthe content, etc.) are managed locally by the content source systems130-n. In yet another embodiment, at least a portion of the contentdescription information including the content location information forone or more variant segments may be embedded within the UI elementsrepresentative of selectable and/or viewable content displayed via themedia devices 114-n and/or display devices 112-n, such that interactionwith those UI elements through the media devices 114-n allows theselectable and/or viewable content located within the content sourcesystems 130-n to be accessible to the media devices 114-n.

By way of example, the media device 114-1 may communicate with platformserver device(s) 120 to request specific content for aural and/orgraphical presentation on display device 112-1. If the requested contentis audio/video content, the platform server device(s) 120 may requestthe specific content from the one or more respective content sourcesystems 130-n (e.g., content source system 130-1, etc.) via network 150and receive at least a portion of the specific content and the contentdescription information associated with the specific content. Theplatform server device(s) 120 may then transmit or stream the contentdescription information and at least a portion of the specific content(e.g., a variant segment of a specific variant stream) having a specificbitrate to the media device 114-1 via network 150.

In addition to or alternative to the above example, the platform serverdevice(s) 120 may provide content description information to the mediadevice 114-1, and the media device 114-1 may subsequently directlyrequest the specific content from the one or more respective contentsource systems 130-n (e.g., content source system 226-1, etc.) based onthe content location information of the received content descriptioninformation. The media device 114-1 may further receive at least aportion of the specific content, e.g., a variant segment of a specificvariant stream having a specific bitrate, transmitted or streamed by theone or more respective content source systems 130-n via network 150.

Continuing with the above example(s), the specific content may bestreamed or transmitted from the platform server device(s) 120 or theone or more respective content source systems 130-n utilizing HLScommunications protocol. The specific content may be further representedby a set of variant streams, where at least a portion of a variantstream of the set of variant streams may be transmitted or streamed tothe media device 114-1 via network 150. The transmitted or streamedvariant stream may be further encoded at a specific bitrate utilizingMPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (e.g., 2000 Kbits/sec. H.264 encoding, etc.) and/or AACencoding standard (e.g., 128 Kbits/sec. AAC encoding, etc.) and dividedinto a sequence of variant segments, where each variant segment mayinclude approximately 3 seconds of encoded audio information and encodedvideo information multiplexed together.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a media device inan example embodiment. It may be appreciated that while FIG. 2illustrates an embodiment for the media device 114-1, other mediadevices 114-n (e.g., media device 114-1, 114-2, etc.) may be configuredsubstantially similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 for mediadevice 114-1.

In an embodiment, the media device 114-1 may be configured tocommunicate with their respective display devices 112-n and platformserver device(s) 120-n and content source systems 130-n via network 150in order to provide requested content for auditory graphical, and/orvisual presentation on their respective display devices 112-n. The mediadevice 114-1 may include, but is not limited to, memory 224, processorcomponent 210, communications component 218, audio/video (A/V)input/output (I/O) component 220, multipurpose input/output (I/O)component 222, power manager component 212, remote control component214, external storage component 216, each of the components and memory224 may be operatively connected and/or coupled to each other.

In an embodiment, the processor component 210 may be generally arrangedto execute instruction information including one or more instructions.In an embodiment, the processor component 210 may be a low powerprocessor component or system-on-chip (SoC) processor component whichmay comprise, among other elements, processor circuit, which mayinclude, but is not limited to, at least one set of electronic circuitsarranged to execute one or more instructions. Examples of processorcomponents 210 may include, but are not limited to, Qualcomm®Snapdragon®, Nvidia® Tegra®, Intel® Atom®, Samsung® Exynos, Apple® A7®,Apple® A8®, or any other type of mobile processor(s) arranged to executethe instruction information including the one or more instructionsstored in memory 224.

In an embodiment, the memory 224 may be generally arranged to storeinformation in volatile and/or nonvolatile memory, which may include,but is not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory(RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronousDRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasableprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM) flash memory, polymer memory such as ferroelectric polymermemory, ovonic memory, phase change or ferroelectric memory,silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory, solid state memorydevices (e.g., universal serial bus (USB) memory, solid state drives(SSD), etc.), and/or any other type of storage media configured forstoring information.

In an embodiment, the communications component 218 may be generallyarranged to enable the media device 114-1 to communicate, directlyand/or indirectly, with platform server device(s) 120, and/or contentsource systems 130-n. The communications component 218 may include,among other elements, a radio frequency circuit configured for encodingand/or decoding information and receiving and/or transmitting theencoded information as radio signals in frequencies consistent with theone or more wireless communications standards (e.g., Wireless IEEE802.11, WiMAX IEEE 802.16, Global Systems for Mobile Communications(GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Long Term Evolution(LTE), Bluetooth standards, Near Field Communications (NFC) standards,etc.). Additionally or alternatively, the communications component 218may be further include network interface circuit encoding and/ordecoding information and receiving and/or transmitting the encodedinformation as electrical and/or optical signals consistent with one ormore wired and/or optical network standards (e.g., Ethernet, FibreChannel, etc.).

In an embodiment, the power manager component 212 may be generallyarranged to manage the media device 114-1 in one or more power statesand transitioning between the one or more power states. The one or morepower states may include, without limitation, reset state, sleep state,power on state, and/or power off state. The power management component212 may further be may also be operatively coupled to a power button 206to transition the media device 114-1 between powered on state, sleepstate, and/or power off state. The power management component 212 mayalso be operatively coupled to a reset button 208 to transition themedia device 114-1 to a reset state which may be followed by the poweron state.

In an embodiment, the remote control component 214 may be generallyarranged to receive user input information from control device 116-1.The remote control component 214 may be configured to use one or morewireless communication protocols and/or standards, which may include,without limitation, infrared (IR) protocols and/or standards, radiofrequency (RF) protocols and/or standards, and/or Bluetooth protocoland/or standard to communicate with the control device 116-1.

In an embodiment, the external storage component 216 may be generallyarranged to store information in volatile and/or nonvolatile memory aspreviously discussed with respect to memory 224. Additionally oralternatively, the external storage component 216 may be furtheroperatively coupled to external storage components (not shown) such as,for example, USB memory, SSD, hard disk drives (HDD), secure digital(SD) nonvolatile memory, and the like. The stored information mayinclude, without limitation, information received from platform serverdevice(s) 120, content source systems 130-n, one or more componentsand/or operating systems stored in memory 224, information generated bythe one or more components and/or operating systems stored in memory224, content, and/or the like.

In an embodiment, the A/V I/O component 220 may be generally arranged tocommunicate audio and/or video information operatively coupled to one ormore components and/or devices. For example, the A/V I/O component 220may be configured to output audio information and/or video informationto display device 112-1 for acoustic, auditory, graphical, and/or visualpresentation on the display device 112-1. The display device 112-1 maybe operatively coupled and/or connected to the A/V IO component 220 viaone or more audio and/or video interfaces.

In an embodiment, the one or more audio and/or video interfaces mayinclude, without limitation, high definition multimedia interface(HDMI), display port (DP), Red-Green-Blue (RGB) component video,Separate Video (S-video), Digital Visual Interface (DVI), Video GraphicsArray (VGA), Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL), composite video, analogaudio, and/or Sony®/Philips® Digital interface (S/PDIF) digital audio,USB, Apple® Thunderbolt®, and/or the like.

In an embodiment, the multipurpose I/O component 222 may be generallyarranged to communicate with one or more external devices via one ormore interfaces. The one or more interfaces may include, withoutlimitation, USB, Apple® Thunderbolt®, and/or the like. The one or moreexternal devices (not shown) may include, without limitation, keyboards,mice, cameras, microphone, and the like.

In an embodiment, the memory 224 may include instruction informationarranged for execution by the processor component 210. In thatembodiment, the instruction information may be representative of atleast one operating system 228, one or more applications, which mayinclude, but is not limited to, media application 230.

In an embodiment, the operating system 228 may include, withoutlimitation, embedded operating systems (e.g., Apple®, iOS®, Google®Android®, HP® WebOS®, Microsoft® Windows Embedded®, Microsoft® Windows®,Linux, Roku OS, etc.) general arranged to manage hardware resources(e.g., one or more components of the media device 114-1) and/or softwareresources (e.g., one or more applications of the media device 114-1).

In an embodiment the media application 230 may be generally arranged toenable a user or consumer to authenticate to the platform serverdevice(s) 120. After authentication, the media application 230 mayfurther enable a user or consumer to manage their user profile, andsearch, select, and/or playback of content received the platform serverdevice(s) 120 and/or one or more content source systems 130-n. The mediaapplication 230 may include, without limitation, an input component 232,a content component 234, an output component 236, and/or a searchcomponent 238.

In an embodiment, the input component 232 may be generally arranged tointerface with remote control component 214 and/or multipurpose I/Ocomponent 222 to receive user or consumer and/or process one or morecommands including navigation commands and/or selection commands whichmay represent selection of content, search for content, and/or anongoing interaction with an application executing on the platform serverdevice(s) 120.

In an embodiment, the content component 234 may include a streamcomponent 240, an adaptive component 242, a segment processing component244, and an alignment component 246. The stream component 240 may begenerally arranged to receive, buffer, process, store, and/or stream oneor more variant segments associated with a user or consumer selectedcontent from the platform server device(s) 120 and/or one or morecontent source systems 130-n. The stream component 240 may also begenerally arranged to hold one or more variant segments received,buffered, stored, and/or streamed for processing.

In an embodiment, the adaptive component 242 may be generally arrangedto request variant segments from one bitrate stream to variant segmentsof another bitrate stream depending upon changing network conditions.Moreover the adaptive component 242 may be arranged to monitor availablenetwork bandwidth for receiving the one or more variant segments fromthe platform server device(s) 120 and/or one or more content sourcesystems 130-n. The adaptive component 242 may also be arranged torequest one or more variant segments for playback based at leastpartially on the available network bandwidth and content descriptioninformation (e.g., bitrate information associated with each of theavailable variant streams and/or variant segment, etc.) for a givenplayback resolution (e.g., playback resolution information associatedwith each of the available variant streams and/or variant segment,etc.).

In an embodiment, the adaptive component 242 may request one or morevariant segments of a variant stream having a bitrate that is closestbut does not exceed the available network bandwidth for the givenplayback resolution. Thus, the adaptive component 242 may ensure that anuser or a consumer selected content may be requested, received, and/orplayed back using the best available playback quality in most networkconditions for a given playback resolution.

In an embodiment, the segment processing component 244 may be generallyarranged to analyze and extract one or more packetized elementary stream(PES) packets and associated presentation timestamps (PTS) from each andevery received variant segment for all PES packet types (e.g., audiopacket type, video packet type, etc.). The segment processing component244 may be further arranged to generate and store or buffer anassociated PES collection for each and every received variant segmentinto a processing buffer (e.g., processing buffer 810 further discussedand illustrated with respect to FIGS. 8A-8G). The generated and bufferedPES collections in the processing buffer may be initially held forprocessing by the segment processing component 244 for possible segmentprocessing (e.g., splicing, alignment, etc.), when a bitrate switchoccurs. The segment processing component 244 may further release thegenerated and buffered PES collections and provide the releasedgenerated and buffered PES collections to the output component 236 forde-multiplexing, decoding, and/or playback.

Depending on a particular implementation of segment processing component244 and/or availability of variant segments for one or more variantstreams, the segment processing component 244 may be configured tooperate in low latency segment processing configuration or in extendedselection segment processing configuration. In implementations where thevariant streams for one or more variant stream may not be readilyavailable, the segment processing component 244 may be automatically ormanually configured to operate in low latency segment processingconfiguration. In implementations when the variant streams for one ormore variant stream may be readily available, the segment processingcomponent 244 may be configured to operate in extended selection segmentprocessing configuration.

In low latency segment processing configuration, the segment processingcomponent 244 may be configured to buffer and/or hold a limited numberof generated PES collections before a previously buffered and/or heldPES collection is released and provided to the output component 236.Thus, the segment processing component 244 is generally arranged tobuffer and/or hold two PES collections in the processing buffer andrelease one of the two PES collections based on their ordering in theprocessing buffer (e.g., ordering is further discussed with respect toFIGS. 8A-8G). Generally, the segment processing component 244 may beconfigured to release one of the PES collections that has the earliersegment start time between the two buffered and/or held PES collections,when the two PES collections are fully buffered and/or held in theprocessing buffer and any required segment processing (e.g., splicing,alignment, etc.), in response to a bitrate switch has been performed.Additionally, in some instances, the segment processing component 244may be arranged to buffer and/or hold one additional PES collection fora total of three PES collections. In such instances, the segmentprocessing component 244 may also release one or more of the bufferedand/or held PES collections.

For example, in implementations when: (1) the variant streams areassociated with a live broadcast; (2) low latency or delay is desired;and/or (3) only a limited number variant segments for one or morevariant stream is available to be requested and received for a giventime, the segment processing component 244 may be generally configuredto buffer and/or hold at least two PES collections or portions of the atleast two PES collections.

Thus, continuing with the above example, the segment processingcomponent 244 may be configured to continuously: (1) buffer and/or holdat least two PES collections generated based on requested and receivedvariant segments; (2) perform appropriate segment processing (e.g.,splicing, alignment, etc.) on the buffered and/or held PES collectionsbased at least partially on whether a bitrate switch has occurred; and(3) release one or more of the PES collection (or portion thereof) basedon ordering of the PES collections in the processing buffer, where steps(1), (2), and (3) may be repeated until all variant segments arerequested and received or the process is otherwise interrupted.

In extended selection segment processing configuration, the segmentprocessing component 244 may be automatically or manually configured tobuffer and/or hold additional generated PES collections before thebuffered and/or held generated PES collections are released and providedto the output component 236. Thus, the segment processing component 244is generally arranged to buffer and/or hold three PES collections in theprocessing buffer and release one of the three PES collections based ontheir ordering in the processing buffer (e.g., ordering is furtherdiscussed with respect to FIGS. 8A-8G). Generally, the segmentprocessing component 244 may be configured to release one of the PEScollections that has the earlier segment start time between the threebuffered and/or held PES collections, when the three PES collections arefully buffered and/or held in the processing buffer and any requiredsegment processing (e.g., splicing, alignment, etc.) in response to abitrate switch has been performed. Additionally, in some instances, thesegment processing component 244 may be arranged to buffer and/or holdup to two additional PES collections (e.g., example embodimentsdiscussed and illustrated with respect to FIGS. 6, and 7). In suchinstances, the segment processing component 244 may also release one ormore of the buffered and/or held PES collections.

For example, in implementations when: (1) one or more variant streamsare associated with a pre-recorded content; (2) most if not all variantsegments for one or more variant streams are available to be requestedand received; and/or (3) low latency or delay is not a priority, thesegment processing component 244 may be generally configured to bufferand/or hold at least three generated PES collections or portions of theat least three PES collections.

Continuing with the above example, the segment processing component 244may be configured to continuously: (1) buffer and/or hold at least threePES collections generated based on requested and received variantsegments; (2) perform appropriate segment processing (e.g., splicing,alignment, etc.) on the buffered and/or held PES collections based atleast partially on whether a bitrate switch has occurred; (3) releaseone or more buffered and/or held PES collections (or portion thereof)based on ordering of the PES collections in the processing buffer, wheresteps (1), (2), and (3) may be repeated until all variant segments arerequested and received or the process is otherwise interrupted.

In an embodiment, the segment processing component 244 may also begenerally arranged to ensure that when the adaptive component 242requests a variant segment having a new bitrate different thanpreviously received variant segments due to, for example, a change innetwork conditions, at least one previously received variant segment maybe substantially aligned with one or more newly received variantsegments having the new bitrate.

To ensure that requested variant segments are capable of beingsubstantially aligned with previously received variant segments, thesegment processing component 244 may be configured to determine asplicing location between two or more generated PES collections havingdifferent bitrates corresponding to two or more variant segments havingdifferent bitrates. Once a splicing location has been determined, thesegment processing component 244 may also be configured remove PEScollection elements from the PES collections corresponding to those twoor more variant segments based at least partially on the splicinglocation.

In an embodiment, the alignment component 246 may be configured to alignthe two or more PES collections having corresponding variant segmentsand different bitrates based at least partially on the splicing locationin a processing buffer. The alignment component 246 may be configured toalign the PES collections by reordering and/or removing one or more PEScollections having corresponding variant segments based on the splicinglocation in the processing buffer.

In an embodiment, the output component 236 may include a decodercomponent 248, where the decoder component 248 may be generally arrangedto de-multiplex and/or decode the PES collections generated or extractedfrom received variant segments. The decoder output component 236 maygenerate audio and/or video information based on the de-multiplexedand/or decoded PES collections having corresponding variant segmentsthat are received, buffered, stored, and/or streamed from platformserver device(s) 120 and/or one or more content source systems 130-n.

Additionally or alternatively, the output component 236 may also begenerally arranged to generate audio and/or video information based onde-multiplexed and/or decoded PES collections having correspondingvariant segments that are stored in memory 224 and/or memory operativelycoupled to the external storage component 216. The output component 236may also be further arranged to generate the audio and/or videoinformation based on customized UI information representative of one ormore UI views (not shown) including one or more UI elements receivedfrom platform server device(s) 120 and/or generated by one or morecomponents of memory 224 and/or operating system 228.

In an embodiment, the output component 236 may be arranged to providethe generated audio and/or video information to a display device (e.g.,display device 112-1) operatively coupled to the A/V I/O component 220in order to aurally and/or graphically present at least a portion of thegenerated audio and/or video information on the display device (e.g.,display device 112-1).

In an embodiment, the search component 238 may be generally arranged tocommunicate with the platform server device(s) 120. In an embodiment,the search component 238 may be configured to receive one or more searchqueries from the user or consumer via the input component 232, whereeach search query may include, without limitation, one or more searchterms and/or phrases. The search component 238 may be further configuredto transmit the one or more search queries to the platformapplication(s) 124-n, where the platform application(s) 124-n mayperform a search based on the received one or more search queries. Thesearch component 238 may be further configured to receive one or moresearch results from the platform application(s) 124-n, in response tothe transmission of the one or more search queries.

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate a plurality of example variant streams having aplurality of variant segments according to an example embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, content (e.g., a movies, videos, real-timebroadcasts, etc.) received or streamed from the platform serverdevice(s) 120 and/or one or more content source systems 130-n may berepresented as one or more variant streams (e.g., variant streams 320,322, and 324). The one or more variant streams may be associated withone or more bitrates, e.g., bitrates 350 (e.g., 5 Megabits per second,etc.), 352 (e.g., 2.5 Megabits per second, etc.), and 354 (e.g., 1Megabits per second, etc.), respectively, so that each of the one ormore variant streams (e.g., variant streams 320, 322, and 324) may havedifferent network bandwidth requirements for a smooth and uninterruptedplayback by a media device (e.g., media device 114-1, etc.).

Also illustrated in FIG. 3A, each variant stream may be divided into oneor more variant segments, e.g., variant segments 320-n, 322-n, and324-n. Each variant segment (e.g., variant segment 320-1 . . . 320-n,322-1 . . . 322-n, and 324-1 . . . 324-n) may also be generallyassociated with the same playback duration (e.g., playback duration oft), with some exceptions (e.g., the last variant segment of a variantstream where the last variant segment's playback duration is less thant, etc.). Because each variant segment generally shares the sameplayback duration (e.g., playback duration of t), each variant segmentof a variant stream (e.g., variant segment 320-1 of variant stream 320,etc.) may be temporally aligned with the next variant segment of adifferent variant stream (e.g., variant segment 322-2 of variant stream322 or variant segment 324-2 of variant stream 324, etc.).

Similar to FIG. 3A, in an embodiment of FIG. 3B, the streamed orreceived content may also be represented as one or more variant streams(e.g., variant streams 320, 322, and 324). The one or more variantstreams may also be associated with one or more bitrates (e.g., bitrates350, 352, and 354, respectively), so that each of the one or morevariant streams (e.g., variant streams 320, 322, and 324) may havedifferent network bandwidth requirements for a smooth and seamlessplayback by a media device (e.g., media device 114-1, etc.). Unlike FIG.3A, one or more variant segments of FIG. 3B may not share the sameplayback duration of t and consequently, variant segments of one variantstream (e.g., variant segment 330-1 of variant stream 330, etc.) may notbe temporally aligned with the next variant segment of a differentvariant stream (e.g., variant segment 332-2 of variant stream 332 orvariant segment 334-2 of variant stream 334, etc.).

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate a set of interactions for determining alignmentbetween two different bitrate variant streams according to an exampleembodiment. Moreover, FIG. 4A illustrates an overview of the set ofinteractions for determining whether PES collections having differentbitrates are aligned in order to provide a smooth and seamless playbackwhen a media device switches between variant stream having differentbitrates. FIGS. 4B-4D further illustrate the set of interactions fordetermining whether PES collections of different bitrates are aligned inthe context HLS communications protocol with MPEG-4/H.264 and AACencodings, when a media device (e.g., media device 114-1) switches fromreceiving a first variant stream having a first bitrate (i.e., oldbitrate) to a second variant stream having a second bitrate (i.e., newbitrate) different than the first bitrate.

It may be appreciated that a bitrate switch may occur in response to auser or consumer request to switch to a different bitrate and/orautomatically determined by the adaptive component of the media device(e.g., adaptive component 242 of media device 114-1) based at leastpartially on available network bandwidth and content descriptioninformation associated with an user or a consumer selected or requestedcontent.

As illustrated in FIG. 4A, a media device (e.g., media device 114-1) mayreceive one or more variant segments having an old bitrate 350 (e.g.,old bitrate variant segment 320-2, 320-3, and 320-4). Subsequently, abitrate switch 410 may occur where the media device (e.g., media device114-1) may then receive a variant segment having a new bitrate 352(e.g., new bitrate variant segment 322-5). The new bitrate variantsegment 322-5 may be temporally subsequent and/or adjacent to the lastold bitrate variant segment 320-4

In an embodiment, the new bitrate variant segment 322-5 may betemporally subsequent to the last old bitrate variant segment 320-4,when the new bitrate variant segment 322-5 include one or more videoframes, audio frames, and/or other frames that are to be presented to aviewer (e.g., an user or a consumer watching streamed content) after alast frame in the old bitrate variant segment 320-4 have already beenpresented. This may occur when a PTS of one or more frames of the newbitrate variant segment 322-5 temporally subsequent to a last PTS of thelast frame the old bitrate variant segment 320-4.

In an embodiment, the new bitrate variant segment 322-5 may also betemporally adjacent when a segment end time associated with the last oldbitrate variant segment 320-4 substantially matches a segment start timeassociated with new bitrate variant segment 322-5. The segment end timemay substantially match the segment start time, when: (1) the segmentend time is equal to the segment start time; or (2) the time differencebetween segment end time and segment start time is within a maximumtolerance offset (e.g., one frame duration, etc.) for a given framerate. The given frame rate may be identified by the parameterinformation associated with variant stream 322 or variant stream 320. Itmay be appreciated that because the maximum tolerance offset may bemeasured in frame durations (e.g., one frame duration, two framesduration, etc.) rather than units of time (e.g., seconds, milliseconds,etc.), the maximum tolerance offset may vary based on a given frame rateassociated with the variant stream.

As one or more variant segments are received, the segment processingcomponent (e.g., segment processing component 244 of media device 114-1,etc.) may analyze and preprocess each received variant segment togenerate a corresponding PES collection for each variant segment. Forexample, the segment processing component may generate old bitrate PEScollections 420-2, 420-3, and 420-4 corresponding to old bitrate variantsegments 320-2, 320-3, and 320-4, respectively. Similarly, the segmentprocessing component may also generate new bitrate PES collection 422-5corresponding to new bitrate variant segment to 322-5.

Each PES collection may also include or be associated with a releaseindicator, which may be initially set to hold, for indicating that theassociated PES collection and/or corresponding variant segment is heldin a processing buffer for segment processing by segment processingcomponent (e.g., segment processing component 244 of media device 114-1,etc.). The release indicator of each PES collection may be later updatedto release for indicating that the associated PES collection may bereleased to the decoder component (e.g., decoder component 248 of mediadevice 114-1) for de-multiplexing, decoding, and playback. Each PEScollection may further include one or more PES collection elementsfurther discussed with respect to FIGS. 4B-4D.

Depending on implementation, the release indicator, may be implementedas a flag that indicates the PES collection is either held forprocessing or released to the decoder component. In addition to oralternative to the flag implementation, a shared pointer or reference(e.g., a reference counting smart pointer, etc.) may also be used tohold and/or release one or more PES collections in a processing bufferfor further processing by the segment processing component. Inimplementations where the flag implementation and/or the shared pointerimplementation is used, the release indicator may indicate whether thePES collection is held and available for processing, i.e., stillproperly referenced by the shared pointer or is otherwise released,i.e., no longer referenced by the shared pointer (e.g., a null pointeror null reference).

As previously discussed, the segment processing component (e.g., segmentprocessing component (e.g., segment processing component 244 of mediadevice 114-1, etc.) may be configured in low latency segment processingconfiguration or in extended selection segment processing configuration.In extended selection segment processing configuration, which isillustrated in FIG. 4A the segment processing component may beconfigured to continuously: (1) buffer and/or hold at least three PEScollections (e.g., old bitrate PES collections 420-3 and 420-4, and newbitrate PES collection 422-5) generated based on requested and receivedvariant segments (e.g., old bitrate variant segment 320-3 and 320-4, andnew bitrate PES collection 322-5); (2) perform appropriate segmentprocessing (e.g., splicing, alignment, etc.) on the buffered and/or heldPES collections based at least partially on whether a bitrate switch(e.g., bitrate switch 410) has occurred; and (3) release one or more ofthe at least three buffered and/or held PES collections (or portionthereof) based on ordering of the PES collections in the processingbuffer, where steps (1), (2), and (3) may be repeated until all variantsegments are requested and received or the process is otherwiseinterrupted.

It may be appreciated that while FIG. 4A illustrates the segmentprocessing component configured in extended selection segment processingconfiguration, the segment processing component may also be configuredin low latency segment processing configuration. In low latency segmentprocessing configuration, the segment processing component may beconfigured to continuously: (1) buffer and/or hold at least two PEScollections (e.g., old bitrate PES collection 420-4 and new bitrate PEScollection 422-5 but not old bitrate PES collection 420-3 as illustratedFIG. 4A) generated based on requested and received variant segments(e.g., old bitrate variant segment 320-4 and new bitrate variant segment322-5); (2) perform appropriate segment processing (e.g., splicing,alignment, etc.) on the buffered and/or held PES collections based atleast partially on whether a bitrate switch (e.g., bitrate switch 410)has occurred; and (3) release one or more of the at least two bufferedand/or held PES collections (or portion thereof) (e.g., old bitrate PEScollection 420-4) based on the ordering in the processing buffer, wheresteps (1), (2), and (3) may be repeated until all variant segments arerequested and received or the process is otherwise interrupted.

In an embodiment, because variant segments may be multiplexed to includeboth encoded audio information and encoded video information, Each PEScollection element of a PES collection may also include a PES packet ofhaving a particular PES type. Thus, a PES collections element mayinclude a PES_(video) packet for encapsulating encoded videoinformation. Additionally, or alternatively, a PES collection elementmay include a PES_(audio) packet encapsulating encoded audioinformation. Each PES collection element may further include associatedPTS. It may be appreciated that while PES packets having other PES typesas known in the art (e.g., PES_(subtitle) packet for encapsulatingsubtitle information), for purposes of clarification, discussions andillustrations may be limited to PES collection elements that includeonly PES_(audio) packets and/or PES_(video) packets. However, the one ormore PES collection elements may also include PES packets having otherPES types as known in the art.

In an embodiment, each PES collection may also be associated with asegment start time and segment end time, which may be determined basedat least partially on the PTS associated with a PES packet that is firstin time to be presented to a viewer (e.g., the user or consumer watchingthe display device 112-1 operatively coupled to the media device 114-1)in a PES collection and a PES packet that is last in time to bepresented to a viewer. Additionally or alternatively, the segment starttime and the segment end time associated with each variant segment mayalso be determined based at least partially on playback durationinformation associated with each variant segment.

To determine whether variant segments and their corresponding PEScollections are aligned, the segment processing component (e.g., segmentprocessing component 244 of the media device 114-1) may find and extracta video frame element 454-5-1 from the new bitrate PES collection 422-5.The extracted video frame element 454-5-1 may include a PES_(video)packet that encapsulates a video frame that is first in time, amongother video frames in the new bitrate PES collection 422-5, to bepresented to a viewer based on PTS associated with that video frame. Thesegment processing component may further determine: (1) whether thatvideo frame of the PES_(video) packet is a key video frame (“key frame”)and the PES_(video) packet further includes associated parameterinformation; and (2) whether the segment start time of the new bitratevariant segment 322-5 matches the segment end time of the old bitratevariant segment 320-4.

In an embodiment, the key frame may be a complete coded picture, so thatthe decoder component (e.g., decoder component 248 of media device114-1) may decode the key frame without reference to any other videoframe. In the context of MPEG-2/H.222/H.262, this key frame may be knownin the art as an intra-frame or I-Frame. In contrast to key frames,non-key frames or inter-frames may require the decoder component toreference prior and/or subsequent video frames for proper decoding. Inthe context of MPEG-2/H.222/H.262, non-key frames or inter-frames mayinclude bi-directional predicted video frames also known in the art asB-Frames and predicted video frames also known in the art as P-Frames.

In addition to the above embodiment, the key frame may further mark allprevious video frames or coded pictures released for decoding to beunused for reference, so that any video frames provided to the decodercomponent prior to the key frame may not be referenced by any videoframes provided after the key frame. In the context of MPEG-4/H.264,this key frame may also be known in the art as an Instantaneous DecoderRefresh (IDR) Frame.

In an embodiment, the parameter information may include video resolutioninformation for indicating resolution of the video for playback, aspectratio information for indicating the aspect ratio information of thevideo, the frame rate information for indicating the frame rate of thevideo, or any other information necessary to properly decode the keyframe and subsequent video frames. In the context of MPEG-4/H.264, theparameter information may also be known in the art as a SequenceParameter Set (SPS) and a Picture Parameter Set (PPS).

In an embodiment, the segment processing component may further determinethat variant segments and their corresponding PES collections arealigned, when: (1) the extracted video frame to be decoded first in thenew bitrate PES collection 422-5 is a key frame (e.g., in the context ofMPEG-4/H.264, an IDR Frame) having associated parameter information; and(2) the segment start time of the new bitrate variant segment 322-5substantially matches the segment end time of the old bitrate variantsegment 320-4. Otherwise, splicing and/or alignment may be requiredwhich is further discussed with respect to FIGS. 5A-5D, 6, 7, and 8A-8G.

As illustrated in FIG. 4B, each generated old bitrate PES collection420-3, 420-4, and 422-5 may include one or more PES collection elementsand a release indicator. For example, old bitrate PES collection 420-4may include PES collection elements 450-4-1, 450-4-2, 450-4-3, 450-4-4,and 450-4-5 and a release indicator 424-4. Similarly, the new bitratePES collection may include PES collection elements 452-4-1, 452-4-2,452-4-3, 452-4-4, and 452-4-5 and a release indicator 426-5.

The PES collection elements 450-4-1, 450-4-2, 450-4-4, and 450-4-5 mayeach include a PES_(video) packet and its associated PTS. ThePES_(video) packet may include encoded video information representativeof a video frame such as an IDR Frame, a P-Frame, or a B-Frame.Optionally, one or more PES collection elements 450-4-1, 450-4-2,450-4-4, and/or 450-4-5 may also include associated parameterinformation such as SPS and PPS. Similarly, new bitrate PES collectionelements 452-5-1, 452-5-2, 452-5-4, and 452-5-5, may each include aPES_(video) packet and its associated PTS. Optionally, one or more PEScollection elements 452-5-1, 452-5-2, 452-5-4, and/or 452-5-5 may alsoinclude associated parameter information such as SPS and PPS.

Because variant segments may also include multiplexed encoded audio andvideo information, the PES collection element 450-4-3 may include aPES_(audio) packet and associated PTS, where the PES_(audio) packet mayinclude encoded audio information representative of an audio frame(e.g., an AAC Frame). Similarly, the PES collection element 452-5-3 mayalso include a PES_(audio) packet and associated PTS, where thePES_(audio) packet may include encoded audio information representativeof an audio frame (e.g., an AAC Frame).

The old bitrate PES collection 420-4 may also be associated with asegment start time 442-4-1 and a segment end time 442-4-2 which may bedetermined based at least partially on the PTS in the PES collectionelement 450-4-1 and the PTS in the PES collection element 450-4-5,respectively. Similarly, the new bitrate PES collection 422-5 may alsobe associated with a segment start time 444-5-1 and a segment end time444-5-2 which may be determined based at least partially on the PTS inthe PES collection element 452-5-1 and the PTS in the PES collectionelement 452-5-5, respectively. It may be appreciated that while only alimited number of PES_(video) packets and PES_(audio) packets andpermutations of their arrangements are illustrated, the example is notlimited in this context.

As illustrated in FIG. 4C, to determine whether the old bitrate PEScollection 420-4 and the new bitrate PES collection 422-5 are aligned,the segment processing component 244 may find and extract a video frameelement 454-5-1 from the new bitrate PES collection 422-5 that includesPES_(video) packet. where the PES_(video) packet may include a videoframe that is first in time to be presented to a viewer (e.g., the useror consumer watching the display device 112-1) by the output component(e.g., output component 236 of media device 114-1 operatively coupled tothe display device 112-1), among other video frames, in the new bitratePES collection 422-5. The video frame element 454-5-1 may be found by,for example, searching the new bitrate PES collection 422-5 for a PEScollection element that has the earliest PTS (e.g., PES collectionelement 452-5-1) among all PES collection elements (e.g., PES collectionelements 452-5-1, 452-5-2, 452-5-3, 452-5-4, 452-5-5) in the new bitratePES collection 422-5.

The segment processing component 244 may further analyze the video frameelement 454-5-1 and determine: (1) whether the video frame encapsulatedin the PES_(video) packet of the video frame element 454-5-1 is an IDRFrame and if the video frame is an IDR Frame, whether the PES_(video)packet also includes associated SPS and PPS; and (2) whether the segmentstart time 444-5-1 of the new bitrate variant segment 322-5 matches thesegment end time 442-4-2 of the old bitrate variant segment 320-4.

As illustrated in FIG. 4D, the segment processing component 244 mayfurther determine that old bitrate PES collection 420-4 is aligned withnew bitrate PES collection 422-5 for a smooth and seamless bitratetransition 480, when: (1) the PES_(video) packet of the extracted videoframe element 454-5-1 includes an IDR Frame having associated SPS andPPS; and (2) the segment start time 444-5-1 of the variant segment 322-5matches the segment end time 442-4-2 of the prior variant segment 320-4.Additionally, because PES collection 420-4 is aligned with PEScollection 422-5 and assuming that the segment processing component 244is configured in extended selection segment processing configuration,the release indicator 424-3 for PES collection 420-3 may be updated torelease, so that the PES collection 420-3 may be provided to the decodercomponent 248 for decoding. Otherwise, the segment processing component244 may determine that splicing and/or alignment may be required, whichis further discussed with respect to FIGS. 5A-5D, 6, 7, and 8A-8G.

It may be appreciated that in extended selection segment processingconfiguration, the release indicators 424-4 and 426-5 for PEScollections 420-4 and 422-5, respectively, may not be updated from holdto release (i.e., remain as hold) at this time, because the PEScollections 420-4 and 422-5 may require processing (e.g., splicing,alignment, etc.), when another bitrate switch occurs right after newbitrate PES collection 422-5 (e.g., a bitrate switch occurs between thesegment start time and segment end time of a new bitrate PES collection422-6 (not shown) that may be temporally subsequent and adjacent to thenew bitrate PES collection 422-5, etc.). Alternatively, when the segmentprocessing component 244 is configured in low latency segment processingconfiguration, the release indicator 424-3 for PES collection 420-3 mayhave been previously updated from hold to release and the releaseindicator 424-4 for PES collection 420-4 may be updated from hold torelease while the release indicators 426-5 for PES collection 422-5 willremain as hold.

FIGS. 5A-5D illustrates a set of interactions for determining a firstin-tolerance splicing location between two different bitrate variantstreams according to an example embodiment. Moreover, FIG. 5Aillustrates an overview of the set of interactions for determining anin-tolerance splicing location between two PES collections havingdifferent bitrates, when splicing is required to provide a smooth andseamless playback during a bitrate switch 410. FIGS. 5B-5D furtherillustrate the set of interactions for determining the in-tolerancesplicing location between two different PES collections having differentbitrates, when a media device (e.g., media device 114-1) switches fromreceiving a first variant stream having an old bitrate (i.e., oldbitrate variant stream 320) to a second variant stream having a newbitrate (i.e., new bitrate variant stream 322) and the old bitratevariant segment is not aligned with the new bitrate variant segment.

As illustrated in FIG. 5A and similarly discussed and illustrated withrespect to FIG. 4A, a media device may receive one or more variantsegments having an old bitrate 350 (e.g., old bitrate variant segments320-2, 320-3, and 320-4). Subsequently, a bitrate switch 410 may occurwhere the media device may then receive a variant segment having a newbitrate 352 (e.g., new bitrate variant segment 322-5). The new bitratevariant segment may be partially temporally subsequent to the lastvariant segment received in the old bitrate 350 (e.g., old bitratevariant segment 340-4). Additionally, as the variant segments arereceived, the segment processing component may analyze and preprocessthe received variant segments to generate a corresponding PES collectionfor each variant segment.

Also illustrated in FIG. 5A and similarly discussed and illustrated withrespect to FIG. 4A, the segment processing component (e.g., segmentprocessing component 244 of media device 114-1, etc.) may also beconfigured in extended selection segment processing configuration.

However, unlike FIG. 4A, the new bitrate variant segment (e.g., newbitrate variant segment 322-5) may not be aligned and may eventemporally overlap with the old bitrate variant segment (e.g., oldbitrate variant segment 320-4). Stated differently, unlike FIG. 4A, thenew bitrate variant segment (e.g., new bitrate variant segment 322-5)may include one or more frames with associated PTS that are temporallyprior to the last PTS of the last video frame of the old bitrate variantsegment (e.g., old bitrate variant segment 320-4). Thus, in order toensure a smooth and seamless transition as a result of the bitrateswitch 410, splicing between old bitrate PES collection 420-4 and thenew bitrate PES collection 522-5 corresponding to old bitrate variantsegment 320-4 and new bitrate variant segment 322-5 may be required.

To determine a first in-tolerance splicing location for splicing the PEScollections, segment processing component (e.g., segment processingcomponent 244 of media device 114-1) may generate key frames collections530-4 and 532-5 based on the old bitrate PES collection (e.g., oldbitrate PES collection 420-4) and new bitrate PES collection (e.g., newbitrate PES collection 522-5), respectively. The generated key framescollections 530-4 and 532-5 may include all key frames in the oldbitrate PES collection 420-4 and the new bitrate PES collection 522-5,respectively. Thus, each key frames collection may include one or morekey frames collection elements. Furthermore, each key frames collectionelement of the one or more key frames collection elements may include:(1) a PES_(video) packet that encapsulates a key frame; and (2) anassociated PTS.

The segment processing component may further determine whether a PTS ofthe key frames collection 530-4 substantially matches a PTS of the keyframes collection 532-5. The segment processing component may determinea first in-tolerance splicing location, when the PTS of the key framescollection 530-4 substantially match 560 the PTS of the key framescollection 532-5. The first in-tolerance splicing location may includean old bitrate PTS and a reference to an old bitrate PES collection. Thefirst in-tolerance splicing location may also include a new bitrate PTSand a reference to a new bitrate PES collection. Otherwise, the segmentprocessing component may determine a first out-of-tolerance splicinglocation and an associated first out-of-tolerance offset.

Based on the old bitrate PTS and the reference to the old bitrate PEScollection, the segment processing component may further: (1) identifyone or more old bitrate PES collection elements that includes a PTS thatmatches or is temporally subsequent to the old bitrate PTS (e.g., PEScollection element 450-4-4 and PES collection element 450-4-5) from thereferenced old bitrate PES collection (e.g., old bitrate PES collection420-4); and (2) remove the one or more identified old bitrate PEScollection elements (e.g., PES collection element 450-4-4 and PEScollection element 450-4-5) from the referenced old bitrate PEScollection (e.g., old bitrate PES collection 420-4). Similarly, based onthe new bitrate PTS and the reference to the new bitrate PES collection,the segment processing component may further: (1) identify all newbitrate PES collection elements temporally prior to the new bitrate PTS(e.g., PES collection elements 552-5-1, 552-5-2, and 552-5-3) from thereferenced new bitrate PES collection (e.g., new bitrate PES collection522-5); and (2) remove the one or more identified new bitrate PEScollection elements from the referenced new bitrate PES collection(e.g., new bitrate PES collection 522-5).

As illustrated in FIG. 5B, old bitrate PES collection 420-4 may includesimilar PES collection elements as those illustrated and discussed withrespect to FIG. 4B. The new bitrate PES collection 522-5 may include PEScollection elements 552-5-1, 552-5-2, 552-5-3, 552-5-4, and 552-5-5. ThePES collection 522-5 may be associated with a segment start time 544-5-1and a segment end time 544-5-2 which may be determined based at leastpartially on the PTS in the PES collection element 552-5-1 and the PTSin the PES collection element 552-5-5, respectively. However, becauseold bitrate PES collection 420-4 and the new bitrate PES collection522-5 are not aligned, segment end time 442-4-2 of old bitrate PEScollection 420-4 may not match segment start time 544-5-1 of new bitratePES collection 522-5. Moreover, the segment end time 442-4-2 of oldbitrate PES collection 420-4 may be temporally subsequent to the segmentstart time 544-5-1 of new bitrate PES collection 522-5, which indicatesan overlap between old bitrate PES collection 420-4 and new bitrate PEScollection 522-5.

To determine a splicing location for aligning old bitrate PES collection420-4 and new bitrate PES collection 522-5 and to ensure a smooth andseamless content playback when transitioning between variant streams ofdifferent bitrates, the segment processing component 244 may generatekey frames collection 530-4 for the last old bitrate variant segment320-4 based on the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 and key framescollection 532-5 for the new bitrate variant segment 322-5 based on newbitrate PES collection 522-5. The key frames collections 530-4 and 532-5may include all key frames in the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 andthe new bitrate PES collection 522-5, respectively.

In an embodiment, the key frames collection 530-4 may include key framescollection element 536-4-1 and 536-4-2 and the key frames collection532-5 may include key frames collection element 538-5-1 and 538-5-2.Assuming that PES collection elements 450-4-1, 450-4-4, 452-5-1, and452-5-4 include the IDR Frames of their respective PES collections 420-4and 522-5, each of the key frames collection elements 536-4-1, 536-4-2,538-5-1, and 538-5-2 may include an IDR Frame and associated SPS and PPSencapsulated in a PES_(video) packet and associated PTS. Additionally,each of the key frames collection elements 536-4-1, 536-4-2, 538-5-1,and 538-5-2 may also correspond to PES collection elements 450-4-1,450-4-4, 452-5-1, and 452-5-4, respectively. The embodiment is notlimited in this context.

As illustrated in FIG. 5C, the segment processing component 244 mayfurther determine whether a key frame element in the key framescollection 530-4 includes a PTS that substantially match 560 a PTS of akey frame element of the key frames collection 532-5. The segmentprocessing component may determine that a PTS of key frames collectionelement 536-4-2 may substantially match 560 a PTS of the key framescollection element 538-5-1, when the PTS of the key frames collectionelement 536-4-2 is the same as the PTS of the key frames collectionelement 538-5-1. Additionally or alternatively, the segment processingcomponent 244 may also determine that the PTS of key frames collectionelement 536-4-2 substantially match 560 the PTS of the key framescollection element 538-5-1, when the PTS of the key frames collectionelement 536-4-2 is within a maximum tolerance offset of the PTS of thekey frames collection element 538-5-1.

In an embodiment, the segment processing component 244 may determinewhether the PTS of the key frames collection element 536-4-2 is withinthe maximum tolerance offset of the PTS of the key frames collectionelement 538-5-1 by: (1) calculating a difference in time (i.e.,calculated time difference) between the PTS of the key frames collectionelement 536-4-2 and the PTS of the key frames collection element538-5-1; and (2) determining whether the calculated time difference iswithin the maximum tolerance offset for a given frame rate (e.g., 24frames per second, 29.97 frames per second, 60 frames per second, etc.).The given frame rate may be identified by the parameter informationassociated with a variant stream. It may be appreciated that because themaximum tolerance offset may be measured in frame durations (e.g., oneframe duration, two frames duration, etc.) rather than units of time(e.g., seconds, milliseconds, etc.), the maximum tolerance offset mayvary based on a given frame rate associated with the variant stream.

The segment processing component 244 may further determine a firstin-tolerance splicing location, when the PTS of the key framescollection 530-4 substantially match 560 the PTS of the key framescollection 532-5. For example, the segment processing component 244 mayfurther determine a first in-tolerance splicing location, when the PTSof the PES key frames element 536-4-2, which corresponds to PEScollection element 450-4-4, substantially match 560, within one frameduration, the PTS of the PES key frames element 538-5-1, whichcorresponds to PES collection element 552-5-4. Thus, assuming that thePTS of the PES key frames element 538-5-1, which again corresponds toPES collection element 552-5-4, actually has a PTS that is equal to PTSof the PES collection element 552-5-2. Assuming that the PES collectionelement 552-5-2 encodes a frame (e.g., a P-Frame, B-Frame, etc.) that isone frame in duration prior to the frame (e.g., IDR Frame) encoded inPES collection element 552-5-4, then a substantial match 560 with in amaximum tolerance offset of plus or minus one frame may still occur,because the PTS of the PES key frames element 536-4-2 would be one framein duration in advance of the PTS of the PES key frames element 538-5-1.

Assuming that the PTS of the key frames collection element 536-4-2substantially matches the PTS of the key frames collection element538-5-1, the first in-tolerance splicing location may include the PTS ofthe key frame element 536-4-2 as an old bitrate PTS and a reference toold bitrate PES collection that corresponds to the key frames collection530-4, i.e., old bitrate PES collection 420-4. Similarly, the firstin-tolerance splicing location may also include the PTS of the key frameelement 538-5-1 as a new bitrate PTS and a reference to new bitrate PEScollection that corresponds to the key frames collection 532-5, i.e.,new bitrate PES collection 522-5.

Based on the old bitrate PTS and reference to the old bitrate PEScollection 420-4, the segment processing component 244 may: (1) identifyPES collection elements 450-4-4 and 450-4-5 from the referenced oldbitrate PES collection 420-4 as having PTSes that match or aretemporally subsequent to the old bitrate PTS; and (2) remove theidentified PES collection elements 450-4-4 and 450-4-5 from thereferenced old bitrate PES collection 420-4.

Based on the new bitrate PTS and reference to the new bitrate PEScollection 522-5, the segment processing component 244 may also: (1)identify PES collection elements 552-5-1, 552-5-2, and 552-5-3 from thereferenced new bitrate PES collection 522-5 as having PTSes that aretemporally prior to the new bitrate PTS; and (2) remove the identifiedPES collection elements 552-5-1, 552-5-2, and 552-3 from the referencednew bitrate PES collection 522-5. It may be appreciated that the segmentprocessing component 244 may not identify or remove PES collectionelement 552-5-4, even though the PTS of the PES collection element552-5-4 may match the new bitrate PTS.

Alternatively, the segment processing component 244 may determine afirst out-of-tolerance splicing location with an associated firstout-of-tolerance offset, when a PTS of the key frames collection 530-4substantially matching a PTS of the key frames collection 532-5 withinthe maximum tolerance offset cannot be identified. In suchcircumstances, the first out-of-tolerance splicing location may includean old bitrate PTS and a reference to an old bitrate PES collection. Thefirst out-of-tolerance splicing location may also include a new bitratePTS and a reference to a new bitrate PES collection, where the includedold bitrate PTS and the included new bitrate PTS may have the lowestcalculated time difference among all calculated time differences betweenold bitrate PTSes within the old bitrate PES collection and new bitratePTSes within the new bitrate PES collection. The segment processingcomponent 244 may also determine the first out-of-tolerance offset asthe lowest calculated time difference between the old bitrate PTSes andthe new bitrate PTSes.

It may be appreciated that when a PTS of the key frames collection 530-4substantially matching a PTS of the key frames collection 532-5 cannotbe identified, the segment processing component 244 may further requestadditional variant segments having the new bitrate 352 and determinein-tolerance splicing locations based on the requested additionalvariant segments. These operations are further discussed and illustratedwith respect to FIGS. 6 and 7.

As illustrated in FIG. 5D, after removing the respective PES collectionelements, a seamless or near seamless bitrate transition 580 may existbetween the respective remaining portions of the old bitrate PEScollection 420-4 and the new bitrate PES collection 522-5. The segmentprocessing component 244 may also update the segment end time 442-4-2 tosegment end time 542-4-2 based at least partially on PTS of the PEScollection element 450-4-3. Similarly, the segment processing component244 may update the segment start time 546-5-1 to segment start time458-5-1 based at least partially on PTS of the PES collection element552-5-4. Additionally, assuming that the segment processing component isconfigured in extended selection segment processing configuration,because old bitrate PES collections 420-4 and the new bitrate PEScollections 522-5 have been spliced, the release indicator 424-3 for theold bitrate PES collection 420-3 may be updated from hold to release, sothat the PES collection 420-3 may be provided to the decoder component248 for de-multiplexing, decoding, and playback.

It may be appreciated that in extended selection segment processingconfiguration, the release indicators 424-4 and 526-5 for PEScollections 420-4 and 522-5, respectively, may not be updated from holdto release (i.e., remain as hold) at this time, because the PEScollections 420-4 and 522-5 may require processing (e.g., splicing,alignment, etc.), when another bitrate switch occurs right after newbitrate PES collection 522-5 (e.g., a bitrate switch occurs between thesegment start time and segment end time of a new bitrate PES collection522-6 (not shown) that may be temporally subsequent and adjacent to thenew bitrate PES collection 522-5, etc.). Alternatively, when the segmentprocessing component 244 is configured in low latency segment processingconfiguration, the release indicator 424-3 for PES collection 420-3 mayhave been previously updated from hold to release, and the releaseindicator 424-4 for PES collection 420-4 may be updated from hold torelease while the release indicators 526-5 for PES collection 522-5 willremain as hold.

FIG. 6 illustrates a set of interactions for determining a secondin-tolerance splicing location between two different bitrate variantstreams according to an example embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 and similarly discussed and illustrated withrespect to FIG. 5A, a media device may receive one or more variantsegments, e.g., variant segment 320-2, 320-3, and 320-4 having a oldbitrate 350. Subsequently, a bitrate switch 410 may occur where themedia device may then receive a variant segment having a new bitrate 352(i.e., new bitrate variant segment 322-5) that may be partiallytemporally subsequent to the last variant segment received in the oldbitrate 350 (i.e., old bitrate variant segment 320-4). Thus, the newbitrate variant segment may not be aligned with the last old bitratevariant segment. Additionally, the segment processing component mayanalyze and preprocess the received variant segments to generate acorresponding PES collection for each variant segment. To ensure asmooth and seamless transition as a result of the bitrate switch 410,the segment processing component may further generate key framescollections 530-4 and 532-5 and determine a first in-tolerance splicinglocation.

As illustrated in FIG. 6 and similarly discussed and illustrated withrespect to FIG. 5A, the segment processing component (e.g., segmentprocessing component 244 of media device 114-1, etc.) may also beconfigured in extended selection segment processing configuration.Alternatively, the segment processing component (e.g., segmentprocessing component 244 of media device 114-1, etc.) may be configuredin low latency segment processing configuration.

However, unlike FIG. 5A, the PTS of the key frames collection 530-4 maynot substantially match 560 the PTS of the key frames collection 532-5.Accordingly, the segment processing component may then generate a firstout-of-tolerance splicing location with an associated tolerance offsetusing a similar set of operations as discussed with respect to FIGS. 5Aand 5C.

To ensure that a smooth and seamless bitrate transition may still occurbetween variant streams having different bitrates when the substantialmatch 560 was not found, the segment processing component may furtherrequest, via the streaming component (e.g., stream component 240 ofmedia device 114-1), a first prior new bitrate variant segment havingthe new bitrate 352. The first prior new bitrate variant segment mayalso be temporally prior and adjacent to the new bitrate variant segment322-5.

After requesting the first prior new bitrate variant segment, thestreaming component may receive the requested first prior new bitratevariant segment. The segment processing component may then analyze andpreprocess the first prior new bitrate variant segment to generate acorresponding first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 and bufferthe first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 in the processingbuffer. To determine a splicing location between the first prior newbitrate PES collection 622-4 and old bitrate PES collection 420-4, thesegment processing component may generate first prior new bitrate keyframes collection 632-4 and determine whether a PTS of the previouslygenerated key frames collection 530-4 substantially matches a PTS of thefirst prior new bitrate key frames collection 632-4.

The segment processing component may further determine a secondin-tolerance splicing location using similar set of operations discussedwith respect to FIGS. 5A and 5C, when a PTS of the old bitrate keyframes collection 530-4 substantially match 660 the PT'S of the firstprior new bitrate key frames collection 632-4. Otherwise, the segmentprocessing component may determine a second out-of-tolerance splicinglocation with an associated second out-of-tolerance offset between a PTSof the old bitrate key frames collection 530-4 and a PTS of the firstprior new bitrate key frames collection 632-4, also using similar set ofoperations discussed and illustrated with respect to FIGS. 5A and 5C.

After determining the second out-of-tolerance splicing location, thesegment processing component may determine whether the prior old bitratePES collection (e.g., prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3) is stillavailable for further processing, i.e., still held in a processingbuffer based on whether the release indicator (e.g., release indicator424-3) indicates that the prior old bitrate PES collection (e.g., priorold bitrate PES collection 420-3) is still being held or is otherwisereleased.

Assuming that prior old bitrate PES collection (e.g., prior old bitratePES collection 420-3) has been released or is otherwise not availablefor processing, then the segment processing component may select aout-of-tolerance splicing location (i.e., a first selected out oftolerance splicing location) among the previously determined first andsecond out-of-tolerance splicing locations that has the lowest toleranceoffset among their corresponding first and second out-of-toleranceoffsets. This may ensure that when a substantial match cannot be foundat this time and the prior old bitrate PES collection (e.g., prior oldbitrate PES collection 420-3) is no longer held or available, a closestout-of-tolerance splicing location may be used to provide a nearseamless transition. Additionally, while using an out-of-tolerancesplicing location may result in a brief pause or freeze during playback,substantially noticeable and undesirable visual artifacts, such as, forexample, macro-blocking artifacts, may be prevented.

Based on an old bitrate PTS and a reference to an old bitrate PEScollection (e.g., old bitrate PES collection 420-4) of the secondin-tolerance splicing location or the first selected out-of-tolerancesplicing location, the segment processing component may, using similarset of operations discussed and illustrated with respect to FIGS. 5A and5C: (1) identify one or more old bitrate PES collection elements thatincludes a PTS that matches or is temporally subsequent to the oldbitrate PTS from the referenced old bitrate PES collection (e.g., oldbitrate PES collection 420-4); and (2) remove the one or more identifiedPES collection elements from the referenced old bitrate PES collection(e.g., old bitrate PES collection 420-4).

Similarly, a new bitrate PTS and a reference to a new bitrate PEScollection (e.g., first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 or newbitrate PES collection 522-5) of the second in-tolerance splicinglocation or the first selected out-of-tolerance splicing location, thesegment processing component may, using similar set of operationsdiscussed and illustrated with respect to FIGS. 5A and 5C: (1) identifyone or more new bitrate PES collection elements that includes a PTS thatis temporally prior to the new bitrate PTS from the referenced newbitrate PES collection (e.g., first prior new bitrate PES collection622-4, or new bitrate PES collection 522-5); and (2) remove the one ormore identified PES collection elements temporally prior to the newbitrate PTS from the referenced new bitrate PES collection (e.g., firstprior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 or new bitrate PES collection522-5).

FIG. 7 illustrates a set of interactions for determining a thirdin-tolerance splicing location between two different bitrate variantstreams according to an example embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 7 and similarly discussed and illustrated withrespect to FIGS. 6 and 5A, a media device may receive one or morevariant segments (e.g., old bitrate variant segment 320-2, 320-3, and320-4) having an old bitrate 350. Subsequently, a bitrate switch 410 mayoccur where the media device may then receive a variant segment (e.g.,new bitrate variant segment 322-5) having a new bitrate 352 that istemporally subsequent and adjacent to the last variant segment receivedin the old bitrate 350 (e.g., old bitrate variant segment 340-4). Thevariant segment (e.g., new bitrate variant segment 322-5) may not bealigned with the old bitrate variant segment (e.g., old bitrate variantsegment 320-4). Additionally, the processing component may analyze andpreprocess the received variant segments to generate a corresponding PEScollection for each variant segment. To ensure a smooth and seamlesstransition as a result of the bitrate switch 410, the segment processingcomponent may further generate key frames collections 530-4 and 532-5and determine a first in-tolerance splicing location.

As similarly discussed and illustrated with respect to FIG. 6, asubstantial match 560 between the PTS of the key frames collection 530-4and the PTS of the key frames collection 532-5 may not exist or may notbe found. The segment processing component may then generate a firstout-of-tolerance splicing location with an associated firstout-of-tolerance offset. To ensure that a smooth and seamless bitratetransition may still occur between variant streams having differentbitrates when the substantial match was not found, the segmentprocessing component may further request the first prior new bitratevariant segment (e.g., first prior new bitrate variant segment 322-4).

After receiving the requested first prior new bitrate variant segment,the segment processing component may determine the second in-tolerancesplicing location between the first prior new bitrate PES collection(e.g., first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4) and old bitrate PEScollection (e.g., old bitrate PES collection 420-4), the segmentprocessing component may generate first prior new bitrate key framescollection (e.g., first prior new bitrate key frames collection 632-4)and determine whether a PTS of the previously generated old bitrate keyframes collection (e.g., old bitrate key frames collection 530-4)substantially matches 660 a PTS of the first prior new bitrate keyframes collection (e.g., first prior new bitrate key frames collection632-4).

As illustrated in FIG. 7 and similarly discussed and illustrated withrespect to FIG. 6, the segment processing component (e.g., segmentprocessing component 244 of media device 114-1, etc.) may also beconfigured in extended selection segment processing configuration.

However, unlike FIG. 6, the segment processing component may determinethat a substantial match 660 between the PTS of the old bitrate keyframes collection (e.g., old bitrate key frames collection 530-4) andthe PTS of the first prior new bitrate key frames collection (e.g.,first prior new bitrate key frames collection 632-4) was not found.Thus, segment processing component may determine a secondout-of-tolerance splicing location with an associated secondout-of-tolerance offset between a PTS of the old bitrate key framescollection (e.g., old bitrate key frames collection 530-4) and a PTS ofthe first prior new bitrate key frames collection (e.g., first prior newbitrate key frames collection 632-4), using similar set of operationsdiscussed and illustrated with respect to FIGS. 5A and 5C.

To further ensure that a smooth and seamless bitrate transition maystill occur between variant streams having different bitrates when thesubstantial match 660 was not found, the segment processing componentmay further request, via the streaming component (e.g., stream component240 of media device 114-1), a second prior variant segment having thenew bitrate 352 (e.g., second prior new bitrate variant segment 322-3)that is temporally prior and adjacent to the first prior new bitratevariant segment (e.g., first prior new bitrate variant segment 322-4).

After requesting the second prior new bitrate variant segment, thestreaming component may receive the requested second prior new bitratevariant segment. The segment processing component may then analyze andpreprocess the second prior segment to generate a corresponding secondprior new bitrate PES collection 722-3 and buffer the second prior newbitrate PES collection 722-3 in the processing buffer. To determine athird in-tolerance splicing location, the segment processing componentmay generate a second prior new bitrate key frames collection 732-3 anda prior old bitrate key frames collection 720-3.

The segment processing component may further determine the thirdin-tolerance splicing location when: (1) a PTS of the prior old bitratekey frames collection 730-3 substantially match 760 a PTS of the secondprior new bitrate key frames collection 732-3; (2) a PTS of the priorold bitrate key frames collection 730-3 substantially match 762 a PTS ofthe first prior new bitrate key frames collection 632-4; or (3) a PTS ofthe old bitrate key frames collection 530-4 substantially match 764 aPTS of the second prior new bitrate key frames collection 732-3 usingsimilar set of operations discussed and illustrated with respect toFIGS. 5A and 5C.

In circumstances when a third in-tolerance splicing location cannot bedetermined, the segment processing component may generate: (1) a thirdout-of-tolerance splicing location with an associated thirdout-of-tolerance offset between a PTS of the prior old bitrate keyframes collection 730-3 and a PTS of the second prior new bitrate keyframes collection 732-3; (2) a fourth out-of-tolerance splicing locationwith an associated fourth out-of-tolerance offset between a PTS of theprior old bitrate key frames collection 730-3 and a PTS of the firstprior new bitrate key frames collection 632-4; and (3) a fifthout-of-tolerance splicing location with an associated fifthout-of-tolerance offset between a PTS of the old bitrate key framescollection 530-4 and a PTS of the second prior new bitrate key framescollection 732-3, all using similar set of operations discussed andillustrated with respect to FIGS. 5A and 5C.

After determining the third, fourth, and fifth out-of-tolerance splicinglocations, the segment processing component may select anout-of-tolerance splicing location (i.e., a second selectedout-of-tolerance splicing location) among the previously determinedfirst, second, third, fourth, and fifth out-of-tolerance splicinglocations that has the lowest tolerance offset among their correspondingfirst, second, third, fourth, and fifth out-of-tolerance offsets. Thismay ensure that even when a substantial match cannot be found, a closestout-of-tolerance splicing location may be used to provide a nearseamless transition. Additionally, while using an out-of-tolerancesplicing location may result in a brief pause or freeze during playback,substantially noticeable and undesirable visual artifacts, such as, forexample, macro-blocking artifacts, may be prevented.

Based on an old bitrate PTS and a reference to an old bitrate PEScollection (e.g., old bitrate PES collection 420-4 or prior old bitratePES collection 420-3) of the third in-tolerance splicing location, thesegment processing component may, using similar set of operationsdiscussed and illustrated with respect to FIGS. 5A and 5C: (1) identifyone or more old bitrate PES collection elements that includes a PTS thatmatches or is temporally subsequent to the old bitrate PTS from thereferenced old bitrate PES collection (e.g., old bitrate PES collection420-4 or old bitrate PES collection 420-3); and (2) remove theidentified one or more old bitrate PES collection elements from thereferenced old bitrate PES collection (e.g., old bitrate PES collection420-4 or prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3).

Similarly, based on a new bitrate PTS and a reference to a new bitratePES collection (e.g., first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 orsecond prior new bitrate PES collection 722-3) of the third in-tolerancesplicing location, the segment processing component may, using similarset of operations discussed and illustrated with respect to FIGS. 5A and5C: (1) identify one or more new bitrate PES collection elementstemporally prior to the new bitrate PTS from the new bitrate PEScollection (e.g., first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 or secondprior new bitrate PES collection 722-3); and (2) remove the identifiedone or more new bitrate PES collection elements from the referenced newbitrate PES collection (e.g., first prior new bitrate PES collection622-4 or second prior new bitrate PES collection 722-3).

Additionally or alternatively, based on an old bitrate PTS and areference to an old bitrate PES collection of the second selectedout-of-tolerance splicing location, the segment processing componentmay, using similar set of operations discussed and illustrated withrespect to FIGS. 5A and 5C: (1) identify one or more old bitrate PEScollection elements that includes a PTS that matches or is temporallysubsequent to the old bitrate PTS from the referenced old bitrate PEScollection (e.g., old bitrate PES collection 420-4 or old bitrate PEScollection 420-3); and (2) remove the identified one or more old bitratePES collection elements from the referenced old bitrate PES collection(e.g., old bitrate PES collection 420-4 or prior old bitrate PEScollection 420-3).

Similarly, based on a new bitrate PTS and a reference to a new bitratePES collection of the second selected out-of-tolerance splicinglocation, the segment processing component may, using similar set ofoperations discussed and illustrated with respect to FIGS. 5A and 5C:(1) identify one or more new bitrate PES collection elements temporallyprior to the new bitrate PTS from the new bitrate PES collection (e.g.,first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4, second prior new bitratePES collection 722-3, or new bitrate PES collection 522-5); and (2)remove the identified one or more new bitrate PES collection elementsfrom the referenced new bitrate PES collection (e.g., first prior newbitrate PES collection 622-4, second prior new bitrate PES collection722-3, or new bitrate PES collection 522-5).

FIGS. 8A-8G illustrate a set of interactions for realigning a processingbuffer according to an example embodiment. Moreover, as variant segmentsare received, analyzed, and/or preprocessed to generate correspondingPES collections, the segment processing component (e.g., segmentprocessing component 244 of media device 114-1) may store the generatedPES collections in a processing buffer 810 allocated in memory (e.g.,memory 224 of media device 114-1).

As illustrated in FIGS. 8A-8G, the processing buffer 810 may beimplemented as a first in first out (FIFO) queue, where the segmentprocessing component may store the generated PES collections into theprocessing buffer (i.e., enqueue) via input 852. To provide PEScollections to the decoder component 248 for decoding and playback, thesegment processing component may remove queued PES collections from theprocessing buffer 810 (i.e. dequeue) via output 850 in the order thatthe PES collection was enqueued into the processing buffer 810.

However, in some circumstances, the set of operations discussed andillustrated in FIGS. 4A-4D, 5A-5D, 6 and/or 7, may cause the segmentprocessing component to generate and store one or more PES collections(e.g., first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4, first prior newbitrate PES collection 722-3, etc.) out of order for decoding andplayback. Thus, to ensure proper ordering of the processing buffer 810so that PES collections may be decoded and played back in the properorder, an alignment component (e.g., alignment component 248 of mediadevice 114-1) may re-align the processing buffer 810 based at leastpartially on PTS of one or more PES collection elements in the one ormore PES collections queued in the processing buffer 810 and transitionsbetween an old bitrate PES collection and a new bitrate PES collection.

In an embodiment, the alignment component may remove the one or more PEScollections in the processing buffer 810 based on bitrate transitionsbetween an old bitrate PES collection and a new bitrate PES collection.In an embodiment, the alignment component may also order the one or morePES collections in the processing buffer 810 in increasing PTS order(e.g., left to right as illustrated in FIGS. 8A-8G), so that the PEScollection having PES collection elements with the earliest PTS may befirst to be dequeued while PES collection having PES collection elementswith the latest PTS may be the last to be dequeued.

FIG. 8A illustrates the processing buffer 810 after the set ofoperations discussed and illustrated with respect to FIGS. 4A-4D and/orsteps 910-918 of FIG. 9A has been performed. While not illustrated inFIG. 8A, a seamless bitrate transition 480 may occur between the oldbitrate PES collection 420-4 and new bitrate PES collection 422-5.Additionally, because the PES collection elements are already ordered inincreasing PTS order, the alignment component 248 may not perform anyrealignment of the processing buffer 810.

FIG. 8B illustrates the processing buffer 810 after the set ofoperations discussed and illustrated with respect to FIGS. 5A-5D andsteps 910-926 of FIG. 9A has been performed. As illustrated in FIG. 8B,a splicing location (e.g., a first in-tolerance splicing location, afirst selected out-of-tolerance splicing location, or a second selectedout-of-tolerance splicing location) has been identified and processed toenable a seamless or near seamless bitrate transition 580 to existbetween the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 and the new bitrate PEScollection 522-5. Additionally, because the PES collection elements arealready ordered in increasing PTS order, the alignment component 248 maynot perform any realignment of the processing buffer 810.

FIG. 8C illustrates the processing buffer 810 after the set ofoperations discussed and illustrated in FIG. 6 and/or steps 932-942 and950-952 of FIG. 9B has been performed. As illustrated in FIG. 8C, theprocessing buffer 810 may include PES collections that are out of order,because the first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 may be queuedafter the new bitrate PES collection 522-5 has been queued in theprocessing buffer 810. Additionally, as illustrated in FIG. 8C asplicing location (e.g., a second in-tolerance splicing location, firstselected out-of-tolerance splicing location, or a second selectedout-of-tolerance splicing location) has been identified and processed toenable a seamless or near seamless bitrate transition 880 to existbetween the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 and the first prior newbitrate PES collection 622-4.

However, because the PES collection are not initially ordered inincreasing PTS order in the processing buffer 810, the alignmentcomponent 248 may realign 820 the processing buffer 810, so that thefirst prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 (or a portion thereof) maybe temporally subsequent and adjacent to the old bitrate PES collection420-4 (or a portion thereof) and the new bitrate PES collection 522-5may be temporally subsequent and adjacent to the first prior new bitratePES collection 622-4. For example, to realign 820 the processing buffer810, the alignment component 248 may move the first prior new bitratePES collection 622-4 to a location in the processing buffer 810 that isbetween the new bitrate PES collection 522-5 and the old bitrate PEScollection 420-4.

FIG. 8D illustrates the processing buffer 810 after the set ofoperations discussed and illustrated in FIG. 6 and/or steps 932-952 ofFIG. 9B has been performed. As illustrated in FIG. 8D, the processingbuffer 810 may include PES collections that are out of order, becausethe first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 may be queued after thenew bitrate PES collection 522-5 has been queued in the processingbuffer 810. Additionally, as illustrated in FIG. 8D a splicing location(e.g., a second in-tolerance splicing location, a first selectedout-of-tolerance splicing location, or a second selectedout-of-tolerance splicing location) has been identified and processed toenable a seamless or near seamless bitrate transition 580 to existbetween the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 and the new bitrate PEScollection 522-5.

However, because one or more PES collections may not be aligned and mayno longer be needed in the processing buffer 810, the alignmentcomponent 248 may realign 821 the processing buffer 810, so that theprior new bitrate PES collection 522-5 (or a portion thereof) may betemporally subsequent and adjacent to the old bitrate PES collection420-4 (or a portion thereof) as needed. Additionally, the alignmentcomponent 248 may also remove prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4from the processing buffer 622-4 because the bitrate transition 580 mayoccur at a later PTS (e.g., occurring at new bitrate PES collection522-5), such that the prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 is nolonger needed.

FIG. 8E illustrates the processing buffer 810 after the set ofoperations discussed and illustrated in FIG. 7 and/or steps 962-980 ofFIG. 9C has been performed. Moreover, FIG. 8E may illustrate theprocessing buffer 810 after a splicing location (e.g., a thirdin-tolerance splicing location or a second selected out-of tolerancesplicing location) is determined between a prior old bitrate PEScollection 420-3 and a second prior new bitrate PES collection 722-3.

As illustrated in FIG. 8E, the processing buffer 810 may include PEScollections that are out of order, because the second prior new bitratePES collection 722-3 may be queued after the old bitrate PES collection420-4, the new bitrate PES collection 522-5, and the first prior newbitrate PES collection 622-4 have been queued in the processing buffer810. Additionally, as illustrated in FIG. 8E, a splicing location (e.g.,a third in-tolerance splicing location or a second selectedout-of-tolerance splicing location) has been identified and processed toenable a seamless or near seamless bitrate transition 882 to existbetween the prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 and the second priornew bitrate PES collection 722-3.

However, because the PES collection are not initially ordered inincreasing PTS order in the processing buffer 810, the alignmentcomponent 248 may realign 822 the processing buffer 810, so that thesecond prior new bitrate PES collection 722-3 (or portion thereof) maybe temporally subsequent and adjacent to the prior old bitrate PEScollection 420-3 (or portion thereof), the first new bitrate PEScollection 622-4 may be temporally subsequent and adjacent to the secondprior new bitrate PES collection 722-3, and the new bitrate PEScollection 522-5 may be temporally subsequent and adjacent to the firstnew bitrate PES collection 622-4.

Additionally, the alignment component 248 may remove old bitrate PEScollection 420-4 from the processing buffer 810 because the bitratetransition 882 may occur at an earlier PTS (e.g., occurring at prior oldbitrate PES collection 420-3). For example, to realign 822 theprocessing buffer 810, the alignment component 248 may (I) remove oldbitrate PES collection 420-4; (2) replace the removed old bitrate PEScollection 420-4 with first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4; and(3) move the second prior new bitrate PES collection 722-3 (or portionthereof) between the prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 (or portionthereof) and the first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4.

FIG. 8F illustrates the processing buffer 810 after the set ofoperations discussed and illustrated in FIG. 7 and/or steps 962-980 ofFIG. 9C has been performed. Moreover, FIG. 8F may illustrate theprocessing buffer 810 after a splicing location (e.g., a thirdin-tolerance splicing location or a second selected out-of tolerancesplicing location) is determined between an old bitrate PES collection420-4 and a second prior new bitrate PES collection 722-3.

As illustrated in FIG. 8F, the processing buffer 810 may include PEScollections that are out of order, because the second prior new bitratePES collection 722-3 may be queued after new bitrate PES collection522-5 and first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 have been queuedin the processing buffer 810. Additionally, as illustrated in FIG. 8F asplicing location (e.g., a third in-tolerance splicing location or asecond selected out-of tolerance splicing location) has been identifiedand processed to enable a seamless or near seamless bitrate transition884 to exist between the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 and a secondprior new bitrate PES collection 722-3.

However, because the PES collection are not initially ordered inincreasing PTS order in the processing buffer 810, the alignmentcomponent 248 may realign 824 the processing buffer 810, so that thesecond prior new bitrate PES collection 722-3 (or portion thereof) maybe temporally subsequent and adjacent to the old bitrate PES collection420-4 (or portion thereof), the first new bitrate PES collection 622-4may be temporally subsequent and adjacent to the second prior newbitrate PES collection 722-3, and the new bitrate PES collection 522-5may be temporally subsequent and adjacent to the first new bitrate PEScollection 622-4.

FIG. 8G illustrates the processing buffer 810 after the set ofoperations discussed and illustrated in FIG. 7 and/or steps 962-980 ofFIG. 9C has been performed. Moreover, FIG. 8G may illustrate theprocessing buffer 810 after a splicing location (e.g., a thirdin-tolerance splicing location or a second selected out-of-tolerancesplicing location) is determined between a prior old bitrate PEScollection 420-3 and a first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4.

As illustrated in FIG. 8G, the processing buffer 810 may include PEScollections that are out of order, because the first prior new bitratePES collection 622-4 may be queued after old bitrate PES collection420-4 and new bitrate PES collection 522-5 have been queued in theprocessing buffer 810. Additionally, as illustrated in FIG. 8G asplicing location (e.g., a third in-tolerance splicing location or asecond selected out-of-tolerance splicing location) has been identifiedand processed to enable a seamless or near seamless bitrate transition886 to exist between the prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 and afirst prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4.

However, because the PES collection elements are not initially orderedin increasing PTS order in the processing buffer 810, the alignmentcomponent 248 may reorder 826 the processing buffer 810, so that thefirst prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 (or portion thereof) may betemporally subsequent and adjacent to the prior old bitrate PEScollection 420-3 (or portion thereof) and the new bitrate PES collection522-5 may be temporally subsequent and adjacent to the first prior newbitrate PES collection 622-4.

Additionally, the alignment component 248 may remove second prior newbitrate PES collection 722-3 from the processing buffer 810 because thebitrate transition 886 may occur at a later PTS (e.g., occurring atfirst prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4).

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate processing operations that may be performed by amedia device to PES collections for a bitrate transition according to anexample embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 9A, at step 910, the media device may receive oneor more variant segments, the one or more variant segments including aprior old bitrate variant segment and an old bitrate variant segmentboth having an old bitrate and a new bitrate variant segment having anew bitrate for decoding and playback. For example, at step 910, thestream component 240 of the media device 114-1 may receive one or morevariant segments, the one or more variant segments including prior oldbitrate variant segment 320-3 and old bitrate variant segment 320-4 bothhaving an old bitrate 350 and a new bitrate variant segment 322-5 havinga new bitrate 352 for decoding and playback.

At step 912, the media device may generate a prior old bitrate PEScollection and an old bitrate PES collection based on the prior oldbitrate variant segment and the old bitrate variant segment and a newbitrate PES collection based on the new bitrate variant segment. Forexample, at step 912, the segment processing component 244 of the mediadevice 114-1 may generate a prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 andan old bitrate PES collection 420-4 both having the old bitrate 350. Thesegment processing component 244 may generate the prior old bitrate PEScollection 420-3 and old bitrate PES collection 420-4 based on the priorold bitrate variant segment 320-3 and the old bitrate variant segment320-4, respectively. Additionally, at step 912, the segment processingcomponent 244 may also generate a new bitrate PES collection 422-5 ornew bitrate PES collection 522-5 having the new bitrate 352 based on thenew bitrate variant segment 322-5.

At step 914, the media device may store the generated prior old bitratePES collection, the old bitrate PES collection, and the new bitrate PEScollection in a processing buffer. For example, at step 914, the segmentprocessing component 244 of the media device 114-1 may store thegenerated prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3, and the old bitratePES collection 420-4 in a processing buffer 810. Additionally, at step912 the segment processing component 244 may also store the new bitratePES collection 422-5 or the new bitrate PES collection 522-5 in aprocessing buffer 810.

At step 916, the media device may determine whether the old bitrate isdifferent than the new bitrate. For example, at step 916, the segmentprocessing component 244 of the media device 114-1 may determine whetherthe old bitrate 350 is different than the new bitrate 352.

At step 918, the media device may determine whether old bitrate PEScollection is aligned with the new bitrate PES collection, when the oldbitrate 350 is different than the new bitrate 352 (step 916—Yes). Forexample, at step 918, when the old bitrate 350 is different than the newbitrate 352 (step 916—Yes), the segment processing component 244 of themedia device 114-1 may determine whether old bitrate PES collection420-4 is aligned with the new bitrate PES collection 422-5 or newbitrate PES collection 522-5. The segment processing component 244 maydetermine the alignment by finding and extracting a video frame element454-5-1 from the new bitrate PES collection 422-5 that includes a videoframe that is first to be presented to a viewer among other video framesin the new bitrate PES collection 422-5. The segment processingcomponent 244 may further determine: (1) whether the video frame of thevideo frame element 454-5-1 is an IDR Frame and whether video frameelement 454-5-1 also includes associated SPS and PPS; and (2) whethersegment start time 444-5-1 of the new bitrate variant segment 322-5matches segment end time 442-4-2 of the old bitrate variant segment320-4. Additional examples are further discussed with respect to FIGS.4A-4D.

At step 920, the media device may determine a first in-tolerancesplicing location between the old bitrate PES collection and the newbitrate PES collection based on a maximum tolerance offset, when oldbitrate PES collection is not aligned with the new bitrate PEScollection (step 918—No). For example, at step 920, when old bitrate PEScollection 420-4 is not aligned with the new bitrate PES collection522-5 (e.g., new bitrate PES collection 522-5 of FIGS. 5A-5D) (step918—No), segment processing component 244 of media device 114 maydetermine a first in-tolerance splicing location between the old bitratePES collection 420-4 and the new bitrate PES collection 522-5 based on amaximum tolerance offset of plus or minus one frame by generating afirst splicing location request. The generated first splicing locationrequest may include the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 as the inputold bitrate PES collection and the new bitrate PES collection 522-5 asthe input new bitrate PBS collection. The segment processing component244 may further perform a set of operations further discussed andillustrated with respect to FIG. 10 based on the generated splicinglocation request.

At step 922, the media device may determine whether a first in-tolerancesplicing location within maximum tolerance offset has been found. Forexample, at step 922, segment processing component 244 of the mediadevice 114-1 may determine a first in-tolerance splicing location withinmaximum tolerance offset of plus or minus one frame has been found, whena first in-tolerance splicing location has been generated by performingthe set of operations further discussed and illustrated with respect toFIG. 10. Additionally or alternatively, at step 922, the segmentprocessing component 244 of the media device 114-1 may determine a firstin-tolerance splicing location within maximum tolerance offset of plusor minus one frame has not been found, when a first out-of-tolerancesplicing location with a first out-of-tolerance offset has beengenerated by performing the set of operations also further discussed andillustrated with respect to FIG. 10.

At step 924, the media device may store a first out-of-tolerancesplicing location having a first out-of-tolerance offset and continue tostep 932 of FIG. 9B, when a first in-tolerance splicing location withinmaximum tolerance offset has not been found (step 922—No). For example,at step 924, when a first in-tolerance splicing location within maximumtolerance offset has not been found (step 922—No), the segmentprocessing component 244 of the media device 114-1 may store the firstout-of-tolerance splicing location having a first out-of-toleranceoffset in memory 224 of the media device 114-1 and continue to step 932of FIG. 9B.

At step 926, the media device may splice the PES collections based onthe first in-tolerance splicing location, when the first in-tolerancesplicing location within maximum tolerance offset has been found (step922—Yes). For example, at step 926, when the first in-tolerance splicinglocation within maximum tolerance offset has been found (step 922—Yes),segment processing component 244 of media device 114-1 may splice oldbitrate PES collection 422-4 and the new bitrate PES collection 522-5based on the first in-tolerance splicing location by performing a set ofoperations further discussed and illustrated with respect to FIG. 11.

At step 928, the media device may release one or more PES collections(or portions thereof) for decoding based on their ordering in theprocessing buffer and segment processing configuration: (1) when the oldbitrate 350 is not different than the new bitrate 352 (step 916—No); (2)when the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 is aligned with the newbitrate PES collection 422-5 (e.g., new bitrate PES collection 422-5 ofFIGS. 4A-4D) (step 918—Yes); or (3) after splicing the PES collections(e.g., old bitrate PES collection 422-4 and new bitrate PES collection522-5) based on the first in-tolerance splicing location (step 926).

For example, at step 928, (1) when the old bitrate 350 is not differentthan, i.e., the same as the new bitrate 352 indicating that no bitrateswitch has occurred between the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 and thenew bitrate PES collection 422-5 of FIGS. 4A-4D (step 916—No); (2) whenthe old bitrate PES collection 420-4 is aligned with the new bitrate PEScollection 422-5 of FIGS. 4A-4D (step 918—Yes); or (3) after splicingthe old bitrate PES collection 422-4 and new bitrate PES collection522-5 of FIGS. 5A-5D based on the first in-tolerance splicing location(step 926), the segment processing component 244 of the media device114-1 having an extended selection segment processing configuration mayupdate release indicator 424-3 of old bitrate PES collection 420-3 (orportion thereof), which may be the earliest PES collection with respectto PTS in the processing buffer 810 further discussed and illustratedwith respect to FIGS. 8A-8B, from hold to release. Additionally, whenthe segment processing component 244 is configured in extended selectionsegment processing configuration, the release indicator 424-4 for oldbitrate PES collection 420-4 and release indicators 426-5 and 526-5 forPES collections 422-5 and 522-5, respectively, may not be updated fromhold to release at this time.

As illustrated in FIG. 9B, at step 932, the media device may request afirst prior new bitrate variant segment having the new bitrate. Forexample, at step 932, the segment processing component 244 of mediadevice 114-1 may request, via the stream component 240 of the mediadevice 114-1, a first prior new bitrate variant segment 322-4 having thenew bitrate 352.

At step 934, the media device may receive the first prior new bitratevariant segment having the new bitrate. For example, at step 934, thestream component 240 of the media device 114-1, may receive the firstprior new bitrate variant segment 322-4 having the new bitrate 352.

At step 936, the media device may generate a first prior new bitrate PEScollection based on the first prior new bitrate variant segment. Forexample, at step 936, the segment processing component 244 of mediadevice 114-1 may generate a first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4based on the first prior new bitrate variant segment 322-4.

At step 938, the media device may store the generated first prior newbitrate PES collection in the processing buffer. For example, at step938, the segment processing component 244 of media device 114-1 maystore the generated first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 in theprocessing buffer 810.

At step 940, the media device may determine a second in-tolerancesplicing location between the old bitrate PES collection and the firstprior new bitrate PES collection based on a maximum tolerance offset.For example, at step 940, the segment processing component 244 of mediadevice 114 may determine a second in-tolerance splicing location betweenthe old bitrate PES collection 422-4 and the first prior new bitrate PEScollection 622-4 based on a maximum tolerance offset of plus or minusone frame by generating a second splicing location request. Thegenerated second splicing location request may include the old bitratePES collection 420-4 as the input old bitrate PES collection and thefirst prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 as the input new bitratePES collection. The segment processing component 244 may further performthe set of operations further discussed and illustrated with respect toFIG. 10 based on the generated second splicing location request.

At step 942, the media device may determine whether the secondin-tolerance splicing location within maximum tolerance offset has beenfound. For example, at step 942, segment processing component 244 of themedia device 114-1 may determine a second in-tolerance splicing locationwithin maximum tolerance offset of plus or minus one frame has beenfound, when a second in-tolerance splicing location has been generatedby performing the set of operations further discussed and illustratedwith respect to FIG. 10. Additionally or alternatively, at step 942, thesegment processing component 244 of the media device 114-1 may determinea second in-tolerance splicing location within maximum tolerance offsetof plus or minus one frame has not been found, when a secondout-of-tolerance splicing location with a second out-of-tolerance offsethas been generated by performing the set of operations also furtherdiscussed and illustrated with respect to FIG. 10.

At step 944, the media device may store a second out-of-tolerancesplicing location having a second out-of-tolerance offset, when thesecond in-tolerance splicing location within maximum tolerance offset ofplus or minus one frame has not been found (step 942—No). For example,at step 944, when a second in-tolerance splicing location within maximumtolerance offset has not been found (step 942—No), the segmentprocessing component 244 of the media device 114-1 may store the secondout-of-tolerance splicing location having a second out-of-toleranceoffset in memory 224 of the media device 114-1 and continue to step 962of FIG. 9C.

At step 946, the media device may determine whether prior old bitratePES collection is held and proceed to step 962 of FIG. 9C, when priorold bitrate PES collection is held (step 946—Yes). For example, at step946, the segment processing component 244 of the media device 114-1 maydetermine whether the prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 is stillavailable for further processing, i.e., still held in the processingbuffer 810 based on whether the release indicator 424-3 indicates thatthe prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 is still being held or isotherwise released. Additionally, at step 946, the process may proceedto 962, when the release indicator 424-3 indicates that the prior oldbitrate PES collection 420-3 is still being held (step 946—Yes).

As previously discussed, in extended selection segment processingconfiguration, the prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 is generallyheld for processing at this time. In low latency segment processingconfiguration, the prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 may already bereleased for decoding, de-multiplexing, and/or playback. However, it maybe appreciated that in the low latency segment processing configuration,in some implementations, a shared pointer or reference may stillreference prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 and thus, the bitratePES collection 420-3 may still be available for processing andaccordingly, proceeding to step 962.

At step 948, the media device may select an out-of-tolerance splicinglocation having the lowest out-of-tolerance offset, when the prior oldbitrate PES collection is no longer held (step 946—No). For example, atstep 948, when the prior old bitrate PES collection is no longer held(step 946—No), the segment processing component 244 of the media device114-1 may select an out-of-tolerance splicing location among the firstand second out-of-tolerance splicing locations having the lowestout-of-tolerance offset among the corresponding first and secondout-of-tolerance offsets.

At step 950, the media device may splice the PES collections based onthe second in-tolerance splicing location, when the second in-tolerancesplicing location within maximum tolerance offset has been found (step942—Yes) or based on a first selected out-of-tolerance splicinglocation. For example, at step 950, when the second in-tolerancesplicing location within maximum tolerance offset of plus or minus oneframe has been found (step 942—Yes), segment processing component 244 ofmedia device 114-1 may splice the old bitrate PES collection 422-4 andthe new bitrate PES collection 622-4 based on the second in-tolerancesplicing location by performing a set of operations further discussedand illustrated with respect to FIG. 11.

Additionally or alternatively, at step 950, the segment processingcomponent 244 of media device 114-1 may splice the old bitrate and newbitrate PES collections based on the first selected out-of-tolerancesplicing location (e.g., splice the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 andthe new bitrate PES collection 522-5 or splice the old bitrate PEScollection 420-4 and first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-5) byperforming a set of operations also further discussed and illustratedwith respect to FIG. 11.

At step 952, the media device may realign the processing buffer based onPTS associated with one or more stored PES collections. For example, atstep 952, the alignment component 246 of media device 114-1 may realignthe processing buffer based on PTS associated with old bitrate PEScollection 420-4, new bitrate PES collection 522-5, and/or first priornew bitrate PES collection 622-4. Additional examples are furtherdiscussed with respect to FIGS. 8C-8D.

At step 954, the media device may release PES collections (or portionsthereof) for decoding based on their ordering in the processing bufferand segment processing configuration. For example, at step 954, thesegment processing component 244 of media device 114-1 having an extendselection segment processing configuration may update release indicator424-3 of prior old bitrate PES collection 420-4 and release indicator424-4 of old bitrate PES collection 420-4, of FIG. 6 to release fordecoding based on their ordering in the processing buffer 810 asillustrated in FIGS. 8C-8D. Additionally, when the segment processingcomponent 244 is configured in extended selection segment processingconfiguration, the release indicator 624-4 for first prior new bitratePES collection 624-4 and release indicator 526-5 for new bitrate PEScollections 522-5 may not be updated from hold to release at this time.

As illustrated in FIG. 9C, at step 962, the media device may request asecond prior new bitrate variant segment having the new bitrate. Forexample, at step 962, the segment processing component 244 of mediadevice 114-1 may request, via the stream component 240 of the mediadevice 114-1, a second prior new bitrate variant segment 322-3 havingthe new bitrate 352.

At step 964, the media device may receive the second prior new bitratevariant segment having the new bitrate. For example, at step 964, thestream component 240 of the media device 114-1, may receive the secondprior new bitrate variant segment 322-3 having the new bitrate 352.

At step 966, the media device may generate a second prior new bitratePES collection based on the second prior new bitrate variant segment.For example, at step 966, the segment processing component 244 of mediadevice 114-1 may generate a second prior new bitrate PES collection722-3 based on the second prior new bitrate variant segment 322-3.

At step 968, the media device may store the generated second prior newbitrate PES collection in the processing buffer. For example, at step968, the segment processing component 244 of media device 114-1 maystore the generated second prior new bitrate PES collection 722-3 in theprocessing buffer 810.

At step 970, the media device may determine a third in-tolerancesplicing location based on a maximum tolerance offset between: (1) theprior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 and the second prior new bitratePES collection 722-3; (2) the prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 andthe first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4; and/or (3) the oldbitrate PES collection 420-4 and the second prior new bitrate PEScollection 722-3.

For example, at step 970, the segment processing component 244 of mediadevice 114 may determine a third in-tolerance splicing location within amaximum tolerance offset of plus or minus one frame between: (1) theprior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 and the second prior new bitratePES collection 722-3; (2) the prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 andthe first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4; and/or (3) the oldbitrate PES collection 420-4 and the second prior new bitrate PEScollection 722-3. The segment processing component 244 may determine athird in-tolerance splicing location by: (1) generating one or moresplicing location requests; and (2) performing the set of operationsfurther discussed and illustrated with respect to FIG. 10 based on theone or more generated splicing location request, until an in-tolerancesplicing location (i.e., the third in-tolerance splicing location) isfound or all of the above pairs of PES collections have been searched.

Thus, continuing with the above example, the segment processingcomponent 244 may determine a third in-tolerance splicing location by:(1) generating a third splicing location request which may include theprior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 as the input old bitrate PEScollection and the second prior new bitrate PES collection 722-3 as theinput new bitrate PES collection; and (2) performing the set ofoperations further discussed and illustrated with respect to FIG. 10based on the third splicing location request. If an in-tolerancesplicing location was not generated and instead, an out-of-tolerancesplicing location and associated out-of-tolerance offset was generated,then the segment processing component may: (1) generate a fourthsplicing location request which may include the prior old bitrate PEScollection 420-3 as the input old bitrate PES collection and the firstprior new bitrate PES collection 622-4 as the input new bitrate PEScollection, and (2) performing the set of operations further discussedand illustrated with respect to FIG. 10 based on the fourth splicinglocation request, and so forth.

At step 972, the media device may determine whether the thirdin-tolerance splicing location within maximum tolerance offset has beenfound. For example, at step 972, segment processing component 244 of themedia device 114-1 may determine the third in-tolerance splicinglocation within maximum tolerance offset of plus or minus one frame hasbeen found, when the third in-tolerance splicing location has beengenerated by performing the set of operations further discussed andillustrated with respect to FIG. 10.

Additionally or alternatively, at step 972, the segment processingcomponent 244 of the media device 114-1 may determine the thirdin-tolerance splicing location within maximum tolerance offset of plusor minus one frame has not been found, when a third, fourth, and fifthout-of-tolerance splicing locations with a corresponding third, fourth,and fifth out-of-tolerance offsets have been generated by performing theset of operations also further discussed and illustrated with respect toFIG. 10.

At step 974, the media device may store a third, fourth, and fifthout-of-tolerance splicing location having corresponding third, fourth,and fifth out-of-tolerance offset, when the third in-tolerance splicinglocation within maximum tolerance offset has not been found (step972—No). For example, at step 974, when a third in-tolerance splicinglocation within maximum tolerance offset has not been found (step972—No), the segment processing component 244 of the media device 114-1may store a third, fourth, and fifth out-of-tolerance splicing locationshaving corresponding third, fourth, and fifth out-of-tolerance offsetsin memory 224 of the media device 114-1.

At step 976, the media device may select an out-of-tolerance splicinglocation having the lowest out-of-tolerance offset. For example, at step976, the segment processing component 244 of the media device 114-1 mayselect an out-of-tolerance splicing location (i.e., a second selectedout-of-tolerance splicing location) among the first, second, third,fourth, and fifth out-of-tolerance splicing locations having the lowestout-of-tolerance offset among the corresponding first, second, third,fourth, and fifth out-of-tolerance offsets.

At step 978, the media device may splice the PES collections based onthe third in-tolerance splicing location, when the third in-tolerancesplicing location within maximum tolerance offset has been found (step922—Yes) or based on a second selected out-of-tolerance splicinglocation. For example, at step 978, when the third in-tolerance splicinglocation within maximum tolerance offset has been found (step 978—Yes),segment processing component 244 of media device 114-1 may splice theold bitrate and new bitrate PES collections (e.g., splice the prior oldbitrate PES collection 420-3 and the second prior new bitrate PEScollection 722-3, splice the prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 andthe first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4, or splice the oldbitrate PES collection 420-4 and the second prior new bitrate PEScollection 722-3) based on the third in-tolerance splicing location byperforming a set of operations further discussed and illustrated withrespect to FIG. 11.

Additionally or alternatively, at step 978, the segment processingcomponent 244 of media device 114-1 may splice the old bitrate and newbitrate PES collections based on the second selected out-of-tolerancesplicing location (e.g., splice the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 andthe new bitrate PES collection 522-5, splice the old bitrate PEScollection 420-4 and first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-5,splice the prior old bitrate PES collection 420-3 and the second priornew bitrate PES collection 722-3, splice the prior old bitrate PEScollection 420-3 and the first prior new bitrate PES collection 622-4,or splice the old bitrate PES collection 420-4 and the second prior newbitrate PES collection 722-3) by performing a set of operations alsofurther discussed and illustrated with respect to FIG. 11.

At step 980, the media device may realign the processing buffer based onone or more bitrate transitions between an old bitrate PES collectionand a new bitrate PES collection and/or PTS associated with one or morestored PES collections. For example, at step 980, the alignmentcomponent 246 of media device 114-1 may reorder the processing buffer810 based on one or more bitrate transitions 580, 880, 882, 884, and/or886 between an old bitrate PES collection and a new bitrate PEScollection and/or PTS associated with one or more stored PEScollections. Additional examples are further discussed with respect toFIGS. 8A-8G.

At step 982, the media device may release one or more PES collections(or portions thereof) for decoding based on their ordering in theprocessing buffer and segment processing configuration. For example, atstep 982, the segment processing component 244 of media device 114-1having an extended selection segment processing configuration may updaterelease indicators 424-3 and 726-3 for prior old bitrate PES collection420-3 (or portion thereof) and second prior new bitrate PES collection722-3 (or portion thereof), respectively, from hold to release, when theprocessing buffer 810 is ordered in accordance with FIG. 8E. In anotherexample, at step 982, the segment processing component 244 of mediadevice 114-1 having an extended selection segment processingconfiguration may update release indicators 424-3, 424-4, and 726-3 forprior old bitrate PES collection 420-3, old bitrate PES collection 420-4(or portion thereof) and second prior new bitrate PES collection 722-3(or portion thereof), respectively, from hold to release, when theprocessing buffer 810 is ordered in accordance with FIG. 8F. In afurther example, at step 982, the segment processing component 244 ofmedia device 114-1 having an extended selection segment processingconfiguration may update release indicator 424-3 for prior old bitratePES collection 420-3 from hold to release, when the processing buffer810 is ordered in accordance with FIG. 8G. It may be appreciated that byreleasing one or more PES collections illustrated above, the segmentprocessing component 244 may ensure that the processing buffer 810continues to buffer and/or hold at least three PES collections, beforeone of the PES collections is released and a new PES collection isgenerated and buffered based on newly received variant segments.

FIG. 10 illustrates processing operations that may be performed by themedia device to determine an in-tolerance splicing location or anout-of-tolerance splicing location according to an example embodiment.

At step 1012, the media device may receive a generated splicing locationrequest to determine an in-tolerance splicing location or anout-of-tolerance splicing location between an input old bitrate PEScollection and an input new bitrate PES collection. For example, at step1012, the segment processing component 244 of the media device 114-1 mayreceive a generated splicing location request to determine anin-tolerance splicing location or an out-of-tolerance splicing locationwith an associated out-of-tolerance offset between an input old bitratePES collection (e.g., old bitrate PES collection 420-4, etc.) and aninput new bitrate PES collection (e.g., new bitrate PES collection522-5, etc.).

At step 1014, the media device may generate an old bitrate key framescollection based on the input old bitrate PES collection, where each keyframes collection element of the old bitrate key frames collectionincludes a key frame, associated parameter information, and acorresponding old bitrate PTS. For example, at step 1014, the segmentprocessing component 244 of the media device 114-1 may generate an oldbitrate key frames collection (e.g., old bitrate key frames collection530-4, etc.) based on the input old bitrate PES collection (e.g., oldbitrate PES collection 420-4), where each key frames collection element(e.g., key frames collection element 536-4-1, 536-4-2, etc.) of the oldbitrate key frames collection includes an IDR Frame, a SPS and a PPS,and a corresponding old bitrate PTS.

At step 1016, the media device may generate a new bitrate key framescollection based on the input new bitrate PES collection, where each keyframes collection element of the new bitrate key frames collectionincludes a key frame, associated parameter information, and acorresponding new bitrate PTS. For example, at step 1016, the segmentprocessing component 244 of the media device 114-1 may generate a newbitrate key frames collection (e.g., new bitrate key frames collection532-5, etc.) based on the input new bitrate PES collection (e.g., newbitrate PES collection 522-5, etc.), where each key frames collectionelement (e.g., key frames collection element 538-5-1, 538-5-2, etc.) ofthe new bitrate key frames collection includes an IDR Frame, a SPS and aPPS, and corresponding new bitrate PTS.

At step 1018, the media device may determine whether an old bitrate PTSof the old bitrate key frames collection substantially matches a newbitrate PTS of the new bitrate key frames collection. For example, atstep 1018, the segment processing component 244 of the media device114-1 may determine whether an old bitrate PTS of the old bitrate keyframes collection (e.g., old bitrate PTS of old bitrate key framescollection 536-4-2, etc.) substantially matches a new bitrate PTS of thenew bitrate key frames collection (e.g., new bitrate PTS of new bitratekey frames collection 538-5-1, etc.).

At step 1020, the media device may generate an output in-tolerancesplicing location, when an old bitrate PTS of the old bitrate key framescollection substantially match a new bitrate PTS of the new bitrate keyframes collection (step 1018—Yes). For example, at step 1020, when anold bitrate PTS of the old bitrate key frames collection (e.g., oldbitrate PTS of old bitrate key frames collection 536-4-2, etc.)substantially match a new bitrate PTS of the new bitrate key framescollection (e.g., new bitrate PTS of new bitrate key frames collection538-5-1, etc.) (step 1018—Yes), the segment processing component 244 ofthe media device 114-1 may generate an output in-tolerance splicinglocation (e.g., a first in-tolerance splicing location, etc.). Theoutput in-tolerance splicing location may include the substantiallymatching old bitrate PTS and a reference to an old bitrate PEScollection that corresponds to the old bitrate key frames collection.The output in-tolerance splicing location may also include thesubstantially matching new bitrate PTS and a reference to a new bitratePES collection corresponds to the new bitrate key frames collection.

At step 1022, the media device may generate an output out-of-tolerancesplicing location and an associated output out-of-tolerance offset, whena PTS of the old bitrate key frames collection substantially match a PTSof the new bitrate key frames collection cannot be identified (step1018—No). For example, at step 1022, when a PTS of the old bitrate keyframes collection substantially matching a PTS of the new bitrate keyframes collection cannot be found or identified (step 1018—No), themedia device may generate an output out-of-tolerance splicing location(e.g., first out-of-tolerance splicing location, etc.) and an associatedoutput out-of-tolerance offset (e.g., first out-of-tolerance offset,etc.). The output out-of-tolerance splicing location may include an oldbitrate PTS and a reference to an old bitrate PES collection thatcorresponds to the old bitrate key frames collection. The outputout-of-tolerance splicing location may also include a new bitrate PTSand a reference to a new bitrate PES collection, where the included oldbitrate PTS and the included new bitrate PTS may have the lowestcalculated time difference among all old bitrate PTS and new bitrate PTSpairs within the old bitrate PES collection and the new bitrate PEScollection. The associated output out-of-tolerance offset may be thelowest calculated time difference between the old bitrate PTS and newbitrate PTS.

FIG. 11 illustrates processing operations that may be performed by themedia device to splice an old bitrate PES collection and a new bitratePES collection according to an example embodiment.

At step 1110, the media device may receive an input splicing location,the input splicing location including a first reference to an oldbitrate PES collection and a corresponding old bitrate PTS and a secondreference to a new bitrate PES collection and a corresponding newbitrate PTS. For example, at step 1110, the segment processing component244 of media device 114-1 may receive an input splicing location (e.g.,an in-tolerance or an out-of-tolerance splicing location), the inputsplicing location may include a first reference to an old bitrate PEScollection (e.g., a first reference to an old bitrate PES collection420-4, etc.) and a corresponding old bitrate PTS (e.g., old bitrate PTSthat equals PTS of the key frames collection element 536-4-2, etc.) anda second reference to a new bitrate PES collection (e.g., a secondreference to a new bitrate PES collection 522-5, etc.) and acorresponding new bitrate PTS (e.g., new bitrate PTS that equals PTS ofthe key frames collection element 538-5-1, etc.).

At step 1112, the media device may identify one or more old bitrate PEScollection elements from the first referenced old bitrate PES collectionhaving an associated PTS that matches or is temporally subsequent to theold bitrate PTS. For example, at step 1112, the segment processingcomponent 244 of media device 114-1 may identify one or more old bitratePES collection elements from the first referenced old bitrate PEScollection having an associated PTS that matches or is subsequent to theold bitrate PTS (e.g., old bitrate PES collection elements 450-4-4 and450-4-5 of the old bitrate PES collection 420-4, etc.).

At step 1114, the media device may remove the one or more identified oldbitrate PES collection elements from the first referenced old bitratePES collection. For example, at step 1114, the segment processingcomponent 244 of media device 114-1 may remove the one or moreidentified old bitrate PES collection elements from the first referencedold bitrate PES collection.

At step 1116, the media device may identify one or more new bitrate PEScollection elements from the second referenced new bitrate PEScollection having an associated PTS that is temporally prior to the newbitrate PTS. For example, at step 1116, the segment processing component244 of media device 114-1 may identify one or more new bitrate PEScollection elements from the new bitrate PES collection having anassociated PTS that is temporally prior to the new bitrate PTS (e.g.,new bitrate PES collection elements 552-5-1, 552-5-2, and 552-5-3 of thenew bitrate PES collection 522-5, etc.).

At step 1118, the media device may remove the one or more identified newbitrate PES collection elements from the second referenced new bitratePES collection. For example, at step 1118, the segment processingcomponent 244 of media device 114-1 may remove the one or moreidentified new bitrate PES collection elements from the secondreferenced new bitrate PES collection.

Example Computer System

Various embodiments and components therein can be implemented, forexample, using one or more well-known computer systems, such as, forexample, platform server device(s) 120, client devices 110-n, displaydevices 112-n, and/or server devices 132-n shown in FIG. 1. Computersystem 1200 can be any well-known computer capable of performing thefunctions described herein.

Computer system 1200 includes one or more processors (also calledcentral processing units, or CPUs), such as a processor 1204. Processor1204 is connected to a communication infrastructure or bus 1206.

One or more processors 1204 may each be a graphics processing unit(GPU). In an embodiment, a GPU is a processor that is a specializedelectronic circuit designed to process mathematically intensiveapplications. The GPU may have a parallel structure that is efficientfor parallel processing of large blocks of data, such as mathematicallyintensive data common to computer graphics applications, images, videos,etc.

Computer system 1200 also includes user input/output device(s) 1203,such as monitors, keyboards, pointing devices, etc., that communicatewith communication infrastructure 1206 through user input/outputinterface(s) 1202.

Computer system 1200 also includes a main or primary memory 1208, suchas random access memory (RAM). Main memory 1208 may include one or morelevels of cache. Main memory 1208 has stored therein control logic(i.e., computer software) and/or data.

Computer system 1200 may also include one or more secondary storagedevices or memory 1210. Secondary memory 1210 may include, for example,a hard disk drive 1212 and/or a removable storage device or drive 1214.Removable storage drive 1214 may be a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tapedrive, a compact disk drive, an optical storage device, tape backupdevice, and/or any other storage device/drive.

Removable storage drive 1214 may interact with a removable storage unit1218. Removable storage unit 1218 includes a computer usable or readablestorage device having stored thereon computer software (control logic)and/or data. Removable storage unit 1218 may be a floppy disk, magnetictape, compact disk, DVD, optical storage disk, and/any other computerdata storage device. Removable storage drive 1214 reads from and/orwrites to removable storage unit 1218 in a well-known manner.

According to an exemplary embodiment, secondary memory 1212 may includeother means, instrumentalities or other approaches for allowing computerprograms and/or other instructions and/or data to be accessed bycomputer system 1200. Such means, instrumentalities or other approachesmay include, for example, a removable storage unit 1222 and an interface1220. Examples of the removable storage unit 1222 and the interface 1220may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as thatfound in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an EPROMor PROM) and associated socket, a memory stick and USB port, a memorycard and associated memory card slot, and/or any other removable storageunit and associated interface.

Computer system 1200 may further include a communication or networkinterface 1224. Communication interface 1224 enables computer system1200 to communicate and interact with any combination of remote devices,remote networks, remote entities, etc. (individually and collectivelyreferenced by reference number 1228). For example, communicationinterface 1224 may allow computer system 1200 to communicate with remotedevices 1228 over communications path 1226, which may be wired and/orwireless, and which may include any combination of LANs, WANs, theInternet, etc. Control logic and/or data may be transmitted to and fromcomputer system 1200 via communication path 1226.

In an embodiment, a tangible apparatus or article of manufacturecomprising a tangible computer useable or readable medium having controllogic (software) stored thereon is also referred to herein as a computerprogram product or program storage device. This includes, but is notlimited to, computer system 1200, main memory 1208, secondary memory1212, and removable storage units 1218 and 1222, as well as tangiblearticles of manufacture embodying any combination of the foregoing. Suchcontrol logic, when executed by one or more data processing devices(such as computer system 1200), causes such data processing devices tooperate as described herein.

Based on the teachings contained in this disclosure, it will be apparentto persons skilled in the relevant art(s) how to make and useembodiments of the invention using data processing devices, computersystems and/or computer architectures other than that shown in FIG. 12.In particular, embodiments may operate with software, hardware, and/oroperating system implementations other than those described herein.

CONCLUSION

It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and notthe Summary and Abstract sections, is intended to be used to interpretthe claims. The Summary and Abstract sections may set forth one or morebut not all exemplary embodiments of the invention as contemplated bythe inventors, and thus, are not intended to limit the invention or theappended claims in any way.

While the invention has been described herein with reference toexemplary embodiments for exemplary fields and applications, it shouldbe understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Otherembodiments and modifications thereto are possible, and are within thescope and spirit of the invention. For example, and without limiting thegenerality of this paragraph, embodiments are not limited to thesoftware, hardware, firmware, and/or entities illustrated in the figuresand/or described herein. Further, embodiments (whether or not explicitlydescribed herein) have significant utility to fields and applicationsbeyond the examples described herein.

Embodiments have been described herein with the aid of functionalbuilding blocks illustrating the implementation of specified functionsand relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of thedescription. Alternate boundaries can be defined as long as thespecified functions and relationships (or equivalents thereof) areappropriately performed. Also, alternative embodiments may performfunctional blocks, steps, operations, methods, etc. using orderingsdifferent than those described herein.

References herein to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an exampleembodiment,” or similar phrases, indicate that the embodiment describedmay include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, butevery embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature,structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarilyreferring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature,structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anembodiment, it would be within the knowledge of persons skilled in therelevant art(s) to incorporate such feature, structure, orcharacteristic into other embodiments whether or not explicitlymentioned or described herein. Additionally, some embodiments may bedescribed using the expression “coupled” and “connected” along withtheir derivatives. These terms are not necessarily intended as synonymsfor each other. For example, some embodiments may be described using theterms “connected” and/or “coupled” to indicate that two or more elementsare in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. The term“coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other.

The breadth and scope of the invention should not be limited by any ofthe above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor;and a memory operatively coupled to the at least one processor, theprocessor configured to: receive one or more variant segments fordecoding and playback, the one or more variant segments including firstand second variant segments having a first bitrate and a third variantsegment having a second bitrate, generate corresponding first, second,and third packetized elementary stream (PES) collections based on atleast the first, second, and third variant segments, store the generatedfirst, second, and third PES collections in a processing buffer,determine, based on at least a tolerance offset, a firstout-of-tolerance splicing location and an associated firstout-of-tolerance offset between the second PES collection and the thirdPES collection, generate a corresponding fourth PES collection based onat least a received fourth variant segment having the second bitrate,and determine, based on at least the tolerance offset, a secondout-of-tolerance splicing location and an associated secondout-of-tolerance offset between the second PES collection and the fourthPES collection.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first variantsegment is temporally prior and adjacent to the second variant segment,the fourth variant segment is temporally prior and adjacent to the thirdvariant segment, and the first bitrate is different than the secondbitrate.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the at least one processoris further configured to: request a fifth variant segment having thesecond bitrate, in response to the determination of the secondout-of-tolerance splicing location, receive the fifth variant segment,wherein the fifth variant segment is temporally prior and adjacent tothe fourth variant segment, generate a corresponding fifth PEScollection based on at least the fifth variant segment, and store thefifth PES collection in the processing buffer.
 4. The apparatus of claim3, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:determine, based on at least the tolerance offset, a third in-tolerancesplicing location between the first and the fifth PES collections, thefirst and the fourth PES collections, and/or the second and the fifthPES collections, and splice the first and the fifth PES collections, thefirst and the fourth PES collections, or the second and the fifth PEScollections based on at least the third in-tolerance splicing location.5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to: realign the processing buffer based on at least apresentation timestamp (PTS) associated with one or more PES collectionsstored in the processing buffer, wherein the processing buffer isconfigured as a first-in-first-out (FIFO) queue.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 5, wherein to realign the processing buffer, the at least oneprocessor is further configured to: move the one or more PES collectionsstored in the processing buffer, such that the PES collections stored inthe processing buffer are ordered in increasing PTS order, and removethe second PES collection stored in the processing buffer based on atleast a bitrate transition associated with the third in-tolerancesplicing location.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the toleranceoffset is plus or minus one frame for a given frame rate determinedbased on at least parameter information associated with a key frame. 8.A computer implemented method, comprising: receiving one or more variantsegments for decoding and playback, the one or more variant segmentsincluding first and second variant segments having a first bitrate and athird variant segment having a second bitrate; generating correspondingfirst, second, and third packetized elementary stream (PES) collectionsbased on at least the first, second, and third variant segments; storingthe generated first, second, and third PES collections in a processingbuffer; determining, based on at least a tolerance offset, a firstout-of-tolerance splicing location and an associated firstout-of-tolerance offset between the second PES collection and the thirdPES collection; generating a corresponding fourth PES collection basedon at least a received fourth variant segment having the second bitrate;and determining, based on at least the tolerance offset, a secondout-of-tolerance splicing location and an associated secondout-of-tolerance offset between the second PES collection and the fourthPES collection.
 9. The computer implemented method of claim 8, whereinthe first variant segment is temporally prior and adjacent to the secondvariant segment, the fourth variant segment is temporally prior andadjacent to the third variant segment, and the first bitrate isdifferent than the second bitrate.
 10. The computer implemented methodof claim 9, further comprising: requesting a fifth variant segmenthaving the second bitrate, in response to the determination of thesecond out-of-tolerance splicing location; receiving the fifth variantsegment, wherein the fifth variant segment is temporally prior andadjacent to the fourth variant segment; generating a corresponding fifthPES collection based on at least the fifth variant segment; and storingthe fifth PES collection in the processing buffer.
 11. The computerimplemented method of claim 10, further comprising: determining, basedon at least the tolerance offset, a third in-tolerance splicing locationbetween the first and the fifth PES collections, the first and thefourth PES collections, and/or the second and the fifth PES collections;and splicing the first and the fifth PES collections, the first and thefourth PES collections, or the second and the fifth PES collectionsbased on at least the third in-tolerance splicing location.
 12. Thecomputer implemented method of claim 11, wherein the determining thethird in-tolerance splicing location further comprises: generating afirst key frames collection based on at least the first PES collection,wherein each key frames collection element of the first key framescollection includes a key frame, associated parameter information, and acorresponding presentation timestamp (PTS); generating a fifth keyframes collection based on at least the fifth PES collection, whereineach key frames collection element of the fifth key frames collectionincludes a key frame, associated parameter information, and acorresponding PTS; determining whether a PTS of the first key framescollection substantially matches a PTS of the fifth key framescollection; and generating the third in-tolerance splicing location, inresponse to determining that the PTS of the first key frames collectionsubstantially matches the PTS of the fifth key frames collection. 13.The computer implemented method of claim 11, wherein the determining thethird in-tolerance splicing location further comprises: generating afirst key frames collection based on at least the first PES collection,wherein each key frames collection element of the first key framescollection includes a key frame, associated parameter information, and acorresponding presentation timestamp (PTS); generating a fourth keyframes collection based on at least the fourth PES collection, whereineach key frames collection element of the fourth key frames collectionincludes a key frame, associated parameter information, and acorresponding PTS; determining whether a PTS of the first key framescollection substantially matches a PTS of the fourth key framescollection; and generating the third in-tolerance splicing location, inresponse to determining that the PTS of the first key frames collectionsubstantially matches the PTS of the fourth key frames collection. 14.The computer implemented method of claim 11, wherein the determining thethird in-tolerance splicing location further comprises: generating asecond key frames collection based on at least the second PEScollection, wherein each key frames collection element of the second keyframes collection includes a key frame, associated parameterinformation, and a corresponding presentation timestamp (PTS);generating a fifth key frames collection based on at least the fifth PEScollection, wherein each key frames collection element of the fifth keyframes collection includes a key frame, associated parameterinformation, and a corresponding PTS; determining whether a PTS of thesecond key frames collection substantially matches a PTS of the fifthkey frames collection; and generating the third in-tolerance splicinglocation, in response to determining that the PTS of the second keyframes collection substantially matches the PTS of the fifth key framescollection.
 15. A tangible computer-readable device having instructionsstored thereon that, when executed by at least one computing device,cause the at least one computing device to perform operationscomprising: receiving one or more variant segments for decoding andplayback, the one or more variant segments including first and secondvariant segments having a first bitrate and a third variant segmenthaving a second bitrate, generating corresponding first, second, andthird packetized elementary stream (PES) collections based on at leastthe first, second, and third variant segments; storing the generatedfirst, second, and third PES collections in a processing buffer;determining, based on at least a tolerance offset, a firstout-of-tolerance splicing location and an associated firstout-of-tolerance offset between the second PES collection and the thirdPES collection; generating corresponding fourth PES collection based onat least a received fourth variant segment having the second bitrate;and determining, based on at least the tolerance offset, a secondout-of-tolerance splicing location and an associated secondout-of-tolerance offset between the second PES collection and the fourthPES collection.
 16. The computer-readable device of claim 15, whereinthe first variant segment is temporally prior and adjacent to the secondvariant segment, the fourth variant segment is temporally prior andadjacent to the third variant segment, and the first bitrate isdifferent than the second bitrate.
 17. The computer-readable device ofclaim 16, wherein the operations further comprise: requesting a fifthvariant segment having the second bitrate, in response to thedetermination of the second out-of-tolerance splicing location;receiving the fifth variant segment, wherein the fifth variant segmentis temporally prior and adjacent to the fourth variant segment;generating a corresponding fifth PES collection based on at least thefifth variant segment; and storing the fifth PES collection in theprocessing buffer.
 18. The computer-readable device of claim 17, whereinthe operations further comprise: determining, based on at least thetolerance offset, a third, fourth, and fifth out-tolerance splicinglocations and associated third, fourth, and fifth out-of-toleranceoffsets between the first and the fifth PES collections, the first andthe fourth PES collections, and the second and the fifth PEScollections, and selecting an out-of-tolerance splicing location amongthe first, second, third, fourth, and fifth tolerance splicing locationsthat has a lowest out-of-tolerance offset.
 19. The computer-readabledevice of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise: splicingone or more PES collections stored in the processing buffer, based on atleast the third out-of-tolerance splicing location or the selectedout-of-tolerance splicing location; and realigning the processing bufferbased on at least a presentation timestamp (PTS) associated with the oneor more stored PES collections, wherein the processing buffer isconfigured as a first-in-first-out (FIFO) queue.
 20. Thecomputer-readable device of claim 19, wherein the operation of splicingthe one or more PES collections further comprises: moving the one ormore PES collections stored in the processing buffer, such that the PEScollections stored in the processing buffer are ordered in increasingPTS order; and removing the second PES collection stored in theprocessing buffer based on at least a bitrate transition associated withthe third out-of-tolerance splicing location or a bitrate transitionassociated with the selected out-of-tolerance splicing location.